Where is Engels air base? Ukraine drone attack on Russian bomber base leaves three servicemen dead

A Ukrainian drone attack on an air base for bombers in southern Russia has left three people dead, according to Moscow.

The Russian military reported on Monday that it had shot down a Ukrainian drone approaching the base deep inside Russia. It is the second time the Engels air base has been targeted this month, raising questions about the effectiveness of Russia’s air defences if drones can fly that far into the country.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said the incident took place in the early hours of Monday (26 December), and three servicemen were killed by debris at the base, which houses the Tu-95 and Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategic bombers that have been involved in launching strikes on Ukraine.

No damage was inflicted on Russian aircraft, the ministry said.

Where is Engels air base?

Engels is located in Russia’s Saratov region on the Volga River, more than 370 miles (600km) east of the border with Ukraine.

It is the second time Engels has been targeted by Ukrainian drones. On 5 December unprecedented drone strikes on Engels and the Dyagilevo base in the Ryazan region in western Russia killed a total of three servicemen and injured four others.

The strikes on the airbases were followed by a massive retaliatory missile barrage in Ukraine which struck homes and buildings and killed civilians.

What’s the current situation in Ukraine?

In Ukraine, overnight from Sunday to Monday appeared unusually quiet. For the first time in weeks, Russian forces did not shell the Dnipropetrovsk region, which borders the partially occupied southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, its governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, reported on Telegram.

“This is the third quiet night in 5.5 months since the Russians started shelling” the areas around the city of Nikopol, he wrote.

Nikopol is located across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under control of the Russian forces.

Ukrainian-controlled areas of the neighbouring Kherson region were shelled 33 times over the past 24 hours, according to Kherson’s Ukrainian governor, Yaroslav Yanushevich. There were no casualties.

On Saturday, a deadly attack on the city of Kherson, which was retaken by Kyiv’s forces last month, killed and wounded scores of people.