Drone attacks on russian airports in Saratov and Engels disrupt air traffic
The media in Kyiv reported on Monday morning that drones attacked airports in the cities of Saratov and Engels in Russia. A recording has already appeared online showing a drone striking a 38-story skyscraper.
It is from the Saratov and Engels airports that strategic bombers launching missiles on Ukraine take off. In these two locations, drone attacks occurred, as reported by the media in Kyiv.
The portal Ukrainian Pravda reports that the Russians dispatched 11 Tu-95 strategic bombers on Monday morning. Four of them took off from the Engels airport.
So far, there are no reports of damage within the base or the scale of the Ukrainian attack on the region, which is several hundred kilometres away from the Ukrainian border. Russian agencies, however, conveyed that air traffic was temporarily suspended in Saratov and the surrounding areas.
The authorities of the Saratov region report that it was due to "falling debris from downed Ukrainian drones that damaged several houses in the cities of Saratov and Engels."
Emergency services were dispatched to the scene. As a result of the attack, four people were injured, one of them seriously, wrote Governor Roman Busargin on Telegram.
Drone crashed into the skyscraper. Recording
In the recording posted on Telegram by the Russian news channel SHOT, a structure purported to be a residential skyscraper in Saratov is visible with a damaged side wall and broken windows on three floors. There are also recordings showing the moment the drone crashed into the tower.
Reuters reports that independent verification of these reports is not possible so far. The Ukrainian side has not commented on the Monday attack.
