Roman Busargin, the governor of Saratov, stated that a Ukrainian drone strike had hit the city of Engels, setting an airfield ablaze and prompting the evacuation of nearby residents. While he did not explicitly name the Engels base, it is the primary airfield in the vicinity.

Ukraine struck a major Russian strategic bomber airfield on Thursday with drones, triggering a huge blast and fire about 700 km (435 miles) from the front lines of the war, Russian