Russia’s Defence Ministry said debris killed three servicemen at the Engels airbase, which houses Tu-95 and Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategic bombers that have launched strikes on Ukraine in the 10-month-old war.
Four people were wounded and a fire broke out, with explosions, sirens and flashes on a video it posted on Baza news agency’s Telegram channel. The Defence Ministry claimed no Russian aircraft were damaged. It was unclear whether the drones had been launched from Ukraine or Russian territory.
Engels is located in Russia’s Saratov region on the Volga River, more than 600 kilometres (370 miles) east of the border with Ukraine.
In keeping with the Kyiv government’s long-standing practice of not confirming cross-border attacks but welcoming their results, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat didn’t directly acknowledge his country’s involvement in Monday’s incident in an interview on Ukrainian television, but said: “These are the consequences of Russian aggression.”
He added: “If the Russians thought that the war wouldn’t affect them deep behind their lines, they were deeply mistaken.”
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