Russian officials reported a “massive” Ukrainian drone strike on the Engels airfield in Saratov Oblast overnight. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have destroyed 54 drones over the region.
“Saratov and Engels today suffered the most massive UAV attack of all time,” stated Roman Busargin, Saratov region’s governor, on Telegram. He reported a fire on the airstrip and damage to around 30 residences in the neighborhood.
According to Busargin, windows were blown out at a neighboring hospital, which wounded one lady, as well as two kindergartens and a school.
Engels, located more than 465 miles from the Ukrainian border, is a key strategic bomber station from which Russian planes have undertaken long-range missile attacks throughout the three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has assaulted it on many occasions, the most recent in January.
Andriy Kovalenko, the chairman of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council’s Counter-Disinformation Center, shared a reported video of the assault on Telegram, showing what seemed to be a smoldering fire at night.
“Russian Engels,” Kovalenko said. ABC News could not immediately authenticate the clip.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have destroyed 132 Ukrainian drones over seven Russian or Russian-controlled territories between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said that Russia bombarded the center city of Kropyvnytskyi overnight, resulting in more than 30 explosions.
The regional governor also said that Russia conducted a “massive” offensive on the eastern city of Kupyansk, which is near the battle lines. According to reports, at least 20 bombs were thrown on the city within hours, killing one and injuring another.
According to Ukraine’s air force, Russians sent 171 drones into the nation overnight, 75 of which were shot down and 63 lost in flight without inflicting any harm. “The Russian attack affected the Kirovohrad, Sumy, and Donetsk regions,” the air force said.
The latest round of attacks occurred shortly after President Donald Trump spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who agreed to a proposed 30-day ceasefire on attacks on energy and infrastructure targets, which was also approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
According to American officials, the temporary ceasefire is meant to serve as a springboard for a larger halt in hostilities and, eventually, a peace agreement.
Trump praised the call as “very good” in a post on Truth Social. “Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs,” added the minister.
“We are very much on track,” Trump said.
However, long-range strikes by both sides have persisted during the most recent round of discussions.
“This is what Putin’s ceasefire looks like,” Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s office director, said on Telegram, with a picture of the aftermath of Russia’s midnight strike on Kropyvnytskyi.
“Russia takes great pleasure in attacking civilians,” the diplomat said.