AGENCY
KYIV , Mar 20
Amid ceasefire deal discussions, Ukraine on Thursday struck Engels military airbase with a drone attack in the Saratov region of southwest Russia. Videos circulating on social media revealed a major blast spreading out from the airfield. The Russian defence ministry said that the air defences had shot down 132 Ukrainian drones targeting Russian regions.
The Engels military airbase holds Russian strategic bombers and also warehouses cruise missiles and glide bombs.
The base is Russia’s sole operating location for Tupolev Tu-160, known as ‘Blackjack’ by NATO. It is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing nuclear-capable heavy strategic bomber and airborne missile platform. The Ukrainian attack comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to cease all attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Governor of Saratov, Roman Busargin, confirmed the attack and said that nearby residents had been evacuated.
Earlier, in December 2022, Ukraine had conducted an attack on the Engels air base.
Will the latest Kyiv ‘provocation’ affect the energy ceasefire deal? After US President Donald Trump spoke with the two leaders, both Russia and Ukraine agreed in principle to a limited ceasefire.
Russian foreign ministry said that Ukraine’s drone attack on the Kremlin’s oil facility was a specially prepared provocation by Kyiv.
It remains to be seen what countermeasures Russia would take to counter the latest attacks.
Russian authorities in the southern region of Krasnodar said a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at an oil depot near the village of Kavkazskaya. The depot is a rail terminal for Russian oil supplies to a pipeline linking Kazakhstan to the Black Sea. “It is absolutely clear that we are talking about another provocation specially prepared by the Kyiv regime and aimed at disrupting peace initiatives,” said Russian spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
