2 Bombers Damaged In Suspected Drone Strike At Engels-2 Air Base

A pair of Russian strategic bombers have been damaged in a suspected drone attack on an air base deep within Russia, reports the Aviationist blog.

Early Monday morning, there was an explosion at the Engels-2 Air Base in Saratov Oblast, about 250 miles (400 km) southeast of Moscow and 435 miles (700 km) from the border with Ukraine.

CCTV camera footage posted on social media showed a large explosion, with early reports indicating that two Tu-95 bombers were damaged, three people were killed and six injured.

Engels-2 is home to the 121st and 184th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiments, which fly Tu-160M Blackjack and Tu-95M Bear bombers, respectively. The bombers have been used to launch Kh-101 cruise missiles at Ukraine.

Russian and Ukrainian authorities have not issued any statements on the incident, although there have been reports the Kyiv used a long-range drone to conduct the strike.

Meanwhile, there was another explosion at the Dyagilevo Air Base near Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, that killed three people and injured five. That blast was reportedly the result of a fuel tanker detonating.