Satellite imagery obtained by The War Zone confirms that ammunition and weapons storage bunkers at Russia’s Engels Air Base were destroyed in a Ukrainian drone attack on Thursday. The attack resulted in a massive fireball and mushroom cloud. You can read our initial story about it here.
A high-resolution image, taken today by Maxar Technologies, shows most of the damage occurred at storage areas about a mile east of the runway. At least a dozen storage facilities and other nearby buildings were destroyed in the attack. It also created several large craters. The severe damage was caused by massive secondary explosions when the drones detonated explosive ordnance stored there. Targeting munitions storage areas for their secondary effects is a common tactic used by both sides when employing standoff weaponry.
There were claims on Russian Telegram channels that a Tu-95MS Bear-H bomber may have been damaged by shrapnel, but there is no indication in the satellite images of major damage to aviation assets at the base. Still, shrapnel damage without secondary effects would not show up in this resolution of imagery, so it is possible.
At least two pilots of a Bear bomber were killed in the attack, according to Russian Telegram channels. There was no indication whether they were in the bomber at the time. The War Zone cannot independently confirm that claim.
According to the ruSSian sources a crew of the Tu-95SM were killed in yesterday’s attack on the Engels-2 air base. pic.twitter.com/CquzoWEeJV
“A warehouse of aviation ammunition at a military airfield was hit, and a fire started at the facility,” the Astra news outlet reported on Friday. “Several hours later, ammunition began to detonate there – at least three explosions occurred.”
Video and images emerging on social media after the attack showed a massive explosion and a dark cloud rising over the city.
There was also video showing the tremendous shockwave that damaged nearby buildings. There is a village located about a tenth of a mile east of the damaged ammunition bunkers, which is likely where the video below was filmed.
At least three servicemen were injured in the attack, Astra stated. At least five civilians were injured by the resulting fire. In addition, the windows in the Engels City Clinical Hospital No. 1 were blown out by falling debris.
“A total of 120 people were evacuated from the danger zone,” Astra explained. At least “180 private houses were damaged during the attack. The authorities introduced a state of emergency at the municipal level.”
The attack involved more than 50 drones, according to Astra. The strikes were carried out by Ukrainian-made long-range one-way attack drones, with at least one video seemingly indicating the use of the twin-boom Lyutyy or the visually similar PD-2. Both these types have been used to attack targets deep inside Russia on multiple occasions.
Engels – a major military airfield. Clearly air defence was not good enough.
A mix of improved Ukraine weaponry, overwhelming air defence and/or previously taking out radars to strip the base of protection.
The base, 300 miles from the Ukrainian border, is home to the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, which operates one squadron of Tu-95MS Bear-H bombers, another squadron of supersonic Tu-22M3 Backfire-C bombers and is the primary base for the Tu-160 Blackjack bombers. The latter aircraft have been widely employed in the conflict in Ukraine and especially in the standoff strikes that have targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, among other objectives, civilian and military, across the country.
Engels Air Base is located about 300 miles from Ukraine. (Google Earth) A map showing the general location of Engels Air Base in western Russia. Google Maps
Engels has been a frequent target for Ukraine. It was attacked three times in the month of December 2022 alone. On at least one of those occasions, the Russian Ministry of Defense said the air base was attacked by Soviet-made jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles modified by Ukraine to carry explosives. Those attacks — which also targeted Dyagilevo Air Base — resulted in damage to at least one Tu-22M3 Backfire-C bomber and apparently also to a Tu-95MS.
More recently, in January of this year, we reported on a huge fire close to Engels Air Base, caused by what Russian officials described as a “massive” Ukrainian drone attack. The strike was on the strategically important fuel storage tank farm for Engels and the fire raged for several days after, as seen in the image in the embedded tweet below:
Russia’s Rosreserv fuel depot in Engels continued to burn today after a Ukrainian drone attack last night, with multiple additional storage tanks igniting throughout the day.
Within the last hour, the regional governor of Saratov declared a state of emergency. pic.twitter.com/EzhoQTgqK0
The latest attack came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to a tentative agreement in principle with Russia calling for a mutual pause on power infrastructure attacks. However, there was no timetable for implementation and both sides continue to launch strikes against each other.
