A week after a massive attack on a Russian strategic aviation base in Engels, Ukrainian drones have again attacked the area, according to reports from the Russian side.
Russian pro-government telegram news channels Mash and SHOT report that there were several explosions in the Engels area.
Before that, the governor of the Saratov region, where Engels is located, announced the threat of drone strikes in his Telegram channel, while the Engels Online Telegram channel reported that an air-raid siren was sounding in the city.
By the morning of 28 March, the raid on the Engels and Saratov area was continuing. Rosaviatsia announced that it was closing Saratov airport.
‘To ensure the safety of civil aircraft (AC) flights, temporary restrictions on the reception and release of aircraft have been imposed at Saratov airport early this morning,’ the Russian civil aviation authority said in an official statement.
Russian telegram channels report that an air-raid siren continues to sound in Engels and explosions can be heard from time to time.
Engels is home to a Russian strategic aviation base. The last massive raid on it by Ukrainian drones took place a week ago.
Engels with the base and the regional centre of Saratov are located on the banks of the Volga River opposite each other.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said 78 Ukrainian drones were allegedly shot down overnight over seven Russian regions.
The ministry claims that 32 drones were shot down over the Voronezh region, 19 over the Saratov region and 17 over the Kursk region.
The remaining drones were shot down over Belgorod, Lipetsk, Rostov and Tambov regions.
Russian monitoring channels early in the night reported multiple drones flying over Belgorod, Voronezh and Lipetsk regions, presumably further east.