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A new Ukrainian kamikaze drone attack today hit Engels strategic bomber airbase deep inside Russia, according to reports.
Loud blasts were heard at the base which is used by Vladimir Putin‘s Tu-95 and Tu-160 nuclear missile carrying planes.
Early reports said three people were killed, and four more hospitalised, according to BAZA media, which has law enforcement contacts.
Planes at the base, some 450 miles from the nearest Ukrainian territory, were damaged, said VCHK-OGPU media in an unconfirmed report.
Videos showed bright flashes seen as explosions from incoming Ukrainian attacks around the Engels-2 military base in Saratov region.
Air raid sirens sounded throughout the area and there also appeared to be the sound of gunfire.
Russian officials did not immediately confirm the attacks at the base, which has been used for conventional aerial attacks on Ukraine in the current war.
A night time airfield explosion at Engels-2 airfield in the Saratov region was reportedly caused by a drone
Fire brigades and police cars were seen driving through Engels moments after the reported explosion at Engels-2 strategic bomber airbase
Saratov region governor Roman Busargin said there was no threat to civilians while stating: ‘Information about the incident at a military facility is being checked by law enforcement agencies.’
He said: ‘There is absolutely no threat to residents.
‘All stories about the evacuation from the city are blatant lies, created far beyond the borders of the country.’
He warned Russians not to give details of the evident attack.
‘Let me remind you that criminal liability is provided for the dissemination of knowingly false information,’ he cautioned residents.
‘All data on websites, media and citizens involved in this are promptly sent to law enforcement agencies.’
The airbase was previously targeted by Ukraine on 5 December, a huge embarrassment to Putin because it is a long distance from the border
Russian military blogger Boris Rozhin said: ‘According to preliminary information, a projectile tried to drop a drone on the airfield.
‘Local residents report explosions. Air defences went off.’
Russian state media agency Tass quotes the defence ministry as saying:
‘On December 26, at around 01:35 Moscow time (2235 GMT), a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region.
‘As a result of the fall of the wreckage of the drone, three Russian technical servicemen who were at the airfield were fatally injured.’
The airbase was previously targeted by Ukraine on 5 December, a huge embarrassment to Putin because it is a long distance from the border.Â
Satellite images revealed Russian bombers at the airport were being armed with cruise missiles for a likely attack on Ukraine’s energy network in November
Tu-95 bombers (left) and Tu-160 aircraft (right) were pictured next to long containers (centre) that experts said were likely to be ammunition crates for cruise missiles
It was claimed the earlier strike was by a repurposed Tu-141 Soviet-era reconnaissance drone known as Strizh.
A local said today: ‘When it hit for the first time (December 5), the sound of the explosion was stronger.
‘I thought someone’s gas had exploded, I ran out into the street, all the car alarms went off in the area, although I live about two kilometres away from the airfield.
‘Today at about 2:30am local time I heard a whistle and then a loud ‘clap’ – not one car alarm went off.
‘The whistle before the ‘pop’ was distinct.’
Ukraine did not publicly claim responsibility for the earlier attack but said that such incidents are ‘karma’ for Russia’s invasion.
After the last attack Putin was reported to have started hiding his fleet of strategic nuclear bombers based at Engels-2.
He moved six planes from the air base, it was reported.
In the 5 December attack two Tu-95s were damaged and two servicemen sustained wounds.
After this attack, a sign was displayed at the airfield saying ‘Death to the Nazis’.
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