Ten people injured in Ukrainian attack
Ukraine attacked an important russian-drone strategic aviation field on Thursday, causing a large explosion and fire to about 700 km (435 miles) from the war lines, Russian and Ukrainian officials said.
Videos verified by Reuters showed a great explosion spreading from the aviation field, destroying nearby chalets. The Russian Ministry of Defense said air defenses overthrew 132 Ukrainian drones on Russian regions.
Other verified videos showed a huge column of smoke climbing toward the sky at dawn and an intense fire.
The Engels base, which dates back to Soviet times, houses heavy strategic bombers with Russian Tupolev Tupolev Tupolev Nuclear capacity, known not officially as white swans.
Roman Busargin, governor of Saratov, said there was an Ukrainian drone attack in the city of Engels who left an aviation field on fire, and that nearby residents were evacuated. He did not specifically mention the engineering base, but is the main aviation field of the area.
The Ukraine Ministry of Defense said its forces attacked the aviation field and triggered secondary ammunition detonations. Kiev said Russia used the Engels base to attack in Ukraine.
Ten people were injured in the attack, local authorities said. Some locals expressed surprise to find various parts of Ukrainian drones in their gardens. The Shot Telegram channel said Ukraine attacked PD-2 drones and Liityi.
Engels district chief Maxim Leonov said a local emergency state had been declared, but gave few details. Reuters could not independently confirm what had happened in the aviation field.
Ukraine has made attacks prior to Engels Air Base since December 2022. In January, it claimed to have reached an oil warehouse that served the base, causing a large fire that took five days to be erased.
A Ukrainian security source said at the time that a drone attack reached a guided and missile pump storage installation at Engels base.
Originally published by Reuters on 03/20/2025
Edition: Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Trevelyan
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2025/03/20/ucrania-ataca-campo-de-aviacao-de-bombardeiros-estrategicos-russos-provocando-grande-explosao/
