Latest news with #IgorSushko
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russian Bomber Base Suffered Major Damage To Munitions Area In Ukrainian Drone Attack
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. You can see the same area in an image taken before the attack below. 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. The full image taken by Maxar shows the distance from the area that was attacked and the main apron. According to Ukrainian accounts, there were three Tu-95MS Bear-H and two Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers at Engels when the drones struck. An Il-76 Candid airlifter had also recently arrived. 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. — 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝕯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝕯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔱△ (@TheDeadDistrict) March 21, 2025 '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. Russia's Engels-2 airbase, having a rough morning. — Jay in Kyiv (@ 2025-03-20T06:10:39.866Z Russia: Ukraine struck the Engels Military Air Base in Saratov region. — Igor Sushko (@ 2025-03-20T04:09:14.037Z /1. Tonight drones targeted Russian military airfield in Engels, Saratov region of Russia. A strong explosion was reported. — Special Kherson Cat (@ 2025-03-20T07:19:10.749Z 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. Near the Engels air base. — 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝕯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝕯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔱△ (@TheDeadDistrict) March 20, 2025 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 during the attack, drones were filmed flying smoothly overhead. — Tim White (@TWMCLtd) March 20, 2025 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 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. — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) January 8, 2025 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. Contact the author: howard@
Russia Today
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ukrainian attack on Russia's EU-bound gas pipeline: What happened
Russian officials have accused Ukrainian forces of destroying a gas metering station while retreating from the city of Sudzha in Kursk Region. Moscow has condemned the attack as an act of terrorism and a violation of the partial ceasefire agreed this week by the presidents of Russia and the US. Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky promised to honor the agreement. The facility's role The Sudzha gas metering station is part of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline, which runs through Russia's Kursk Region, into Ukraine and further into Europe. For decades, the pipeline had delivered gas from Russia to the EU and the flow did not stop even after Kiev's forces captured the station in August. Deliveries were only shut off at the start of this year after Ukraine refused to renew the contract with Russian operator Gazprom. The destruction of the metering station Russia's Defense Ministry reported on Friday that shortly after midnight, Kiev's forces retreating from Kursk blew up the Sudzha gas metering facility. 💥 Russia: Ukraine blew up the gas transit station in Sudzha, Kursk region. — Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) March 20, 2025 The station was seized by Ukraine's forces during their initial incursion into Kursk Region back in August and they had been using the site as a secure logistics base, the ministry said. READ MORE: Russia thwarts new Ukrainian incursion attempt (VIDEO) However, in recent weeks, Kiev's troops have been rapidly losing ground in the area, and while retreating from the city of Sudzha, they decided to deliberately blow up the station, the Russian military has said, calling the demolition of the key energy site 'nothing short of an intentional provocation.' Russia's Investigative Committee has since launched a criminal probe, classifying the Ukrainian attack on the station as an act of terrorism and vowing to identify and bring to justice everyone involved in the incident. Partial ceasefire Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump held a phone call on Tuesday to discuss a proposed 30-day ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict. While Russia did not agree to a complete truce, citing a number of necessary preconditions, Putin approved a month-long pause on strikes targeting energy facilities. Later, Kiev agreed to the partial ceasefire. According to Moscow, Friday's attack effectively means that Ukraine has violated that agreement, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov citing the incident as evidence that Kiev cannot be trusted. READ MORE: Hospital hit during Ukrainian drone attack deep inside Russia 'Everyone can see how much one can trust Zelensky's word and the word of other representatives of the Kiev regime. This is something we have repeatedly warned about,' Peskov told reporters after the attack. Russia's Defense Ministry has also suggested that Kiev's attack on the Sudzha station and other provocations against Russian energy infrastructure are aimed at discrediting Trump's peace efforts. Second violation of ceasefire The attack on the Sudzha station marks the second time Ukraine has been accused of violating the partial truce since it came into effect on Tuesday. On Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the ceasefire was announced, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Kiev had launched three kamikaze drones against an oil transfer facility in Russia's Krasnodar Region, resulting in damage to an oil reservoir and a fire. READ MORE: Ukraine immediately broke Putin-Trump deal on energy targets – Moscow The facility is used to transfer crude to a pipeline operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which works with US oil giants such as Chevron and ExxonMobil. 'Clearly, this was a premeditated provocation by the Kiev regime aimed at derailing the US president's peace initiative,' the Russian military said after the attack. The Kremlin also noted that the incident demonstrated a lack of reciprocity from Kiev on de-escalation.
