Ukrainian drones strike Engels base again, destroying Russian cruise missiles

Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, announced the strike in a post on Telegram.

“Engels, where the enemy continues to store missiles and munitions for attacks on Ukraine, was met by unidentified drones,” Kovalenko said.

Engels-2 is a major Russian airfield known for housing long-range bombers used in missile strikes against Ukraine.

On the night of March 20, several explosions rocked Russia’s Saratov Oblast. Russian Telegram channels reported a drone attack on an oil refinery in Engels.

Thick smoke was later observed in the neighborhood, roughly 10 kilometers from the Engels-2 military airfield.

Local authorities in Russia’s Engels District claimed that the March 20 strike was the most intense drone attack they had experienced to date. An evacuation was ordered shortly afterward.

Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed later that its forces had targeted the Engels-2 air base that night. The strike caused a fire and detonated stored munitions at the site.

On March 27, the Ukrainian General Staff reported that the attack had destroyed 96 air-launched cruise missiles stored at the base.

According to the General Staff, the destroyed missiles were intended for use in at least three large-scale missile strikes between March and April of this year.