On the day when Moscow launched another powerful attack on Ukraine with almost 70 missiles, according to the Ukrainian military, an “unidentified object” was shot down in Russia from air defense near the Engels military base in the Saratov region,” said the head of the region, Roman Busargin, reports Russian press.

Strategic bombing of the Engels military base in RussiaPhoto: press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation / AP / Profimedia

Several residents of Engels reported hearing explosions in the city on Thursday morning, but the regional governor assured that everything was fine.

“The anti-aircraft system on the territory of Engelsky District has worked. An unidentified object was destroyed. Emergency services were dispatched to the scene. There is no threat to the safety of residents,” the governor said.

The strategic aviation of Russia is based at the Engels airfield. During December, this air base was attacked twice. According to Russian media, these were strikes by Ukrainian drones.

Ukraine has never publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks by Russia, but has nevertheless said that such incidents are “karma” of the Russian invasion, Agerpres notes.

On Monday, three Russian servicemen died as a result of falling fragments of a downed Ukrainian drone during an attack on a base in the Saratov region on the territory of Russia, Russian news agencies reported with reference to the Ministry of Defense of Moscow.

The base, which is located near the city of Saratov, about 730 km southeast of Moscow and hundreds of kilometers from the front line in Ukraine, was hit again on December 5, when Russia said another airbase was also attacked.

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