“Saratov and Engels today suffered the largest ever drone attack,” Saratov region governor Roman Busargin wrote on Telegram. He reported a fire at the airport and about 30 houses in the area were damaged.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian military claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media post, saying the operation was carried out in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine and the country's Special Operations Forces. "Fires, explosions and secondary ammunition explosions were recorded in the airport area," the statement said.
A large column of smoke rises from a Ukrainian attack on a Russian airbase. Source: Telegram
Engels – located more than 460 miles from the Ukrainian border – is a major strategic bomber base where Russian aircraft have launched long-range missiles throughout the three-year war. The base has been attacked by Ukraine on several occasions, most recently in January.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation, posted a video of what is believed to be the attack on Telegram, showing a fire burning in the dark, a large column of smoke rising from the direction of the airbase.
Kovalenko said the strike destroyed missile depots, including Kh-101 cruise missiles. “The number will be known later,” he wrote. “This airfield stores the largest number of missiles used by strategic aviation to attack Ukraine.”
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A camera angle of the Ukrainian attack on the Russian airbase (source: Telegram)
The Russian Defense Ministry said it shot down a total of 132 Ukrainian drones in seven Russian-controlled or Russian-controlled regions on Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
On the other side of the front line, Russia also launched a major attack on the city of Kupyansk in eastern Ukraine. The governor of the region said at least 20 bombs were dropped on the city in several hours, killing at least one person and injuring another.
Ukrainian authorities also reported a major Russian bombing of the central city of Kropyvnytskyi overnight, with more than 30 explosions recorded.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 171 drones into the country overnight, 75 of which were shot down and 63 were lost in flight without causing damage. “The Kirovohrad, Sumy and Donetsk regions were affected by the Russian attack,” the Ukrainian air force said.
Several other Russian drone attacks were reported in Odessa and Zaporizhzhia late Thursday, according to local officials. The governor of the Odessa region said civilian infrastructure was damaged and several fires broke out.
The latest attack came shortly after US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which Zelenskyy agreed to a 30-day ceasefire in attacks on energy and infrastructure targets, which was also approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
US officials say the partial ceasefire is intended to pave the way for a broader ceasefire and eventual peace deal, but the escalation of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine poses a major challenge to further peace talks.
Hoang Hai (according to TASS, KYD, ABC)
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