BC Khimki

BC Khimki (Russian: БК "Химки") is a Russian professional basketball team that is based in Khimki, Moscow Oblast. The club's first team participates in the Euroleague and the VTB United League. The club's full official name is BC Khimki Moscow Region.

History

BC Khimki is considered to be one of the most important basketball clubs in all of Russia. The team was founded on January 5, 1997, and won the first seasons' championship of its regional league, taking the opportunity to earn a place in the Russian Superleague A. The following year, Khimki positioned itself among the top 10 basketball clubs in the nation of Russia, guaranteeing a place in the 3rd-tier European cup competition, the Korać Cup. There, the team competed against a group of defeated leaders of the Turkish Basketball League, YUBA Liga, and Bulgarian League. In those years, the team featured such famous players as guard Sergei Bazarevich, Valery Sizov (Soviet Union national team player) and Russian national team player Vitaly Nosov.

Khimki

Khimki (Russian: Химки; IPA: [ˈxʲimkʲɪ]) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated just northwest of Moscow, at the west bank of the Moscow Canal. Population: 207,425 (2010 Census); 141,000 (2002 Census);132,902 (1989 Census); 106,000 (1977); 23,000 (1939).

History

Khimki was officially founded in 1939. It was established around a railroad station with the same name which had existed since 1850 on the Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway. Currently, the city of Khimki is directly adjacent to the territory of the city of Moscow.

Khimki was the site of the closest German advance to Moscow in November–December 1941. A memorial marking this in a form of a giant tank trap is located at the "Kilometer 23" point (55°54´46.103"N, 37°24´10.577"E) of Leningradskoye Highway, the highway to St. Petersburg, just short of an intersection with the Moscow-St.Petersburg railroad, and close to the IKEA shopping center.

After World War II, Khimki became home to several Soviet aerospace defense development centers, which became the principal employers for the majority of the city population. This included R&D enterprises which designed surface-to-air missiles for S-75, S-125, S-200, S-300 Soviet air defense systems, engines for intercontinental ballistic missiles and satellite launch vehicles, and other types of equipment. For this reason, Khimki was off limits for all foreigners visiting the country, despite its location on a highway between Moscow and its major international airport.