(Reuters) -Ukrainian drones struck deep inside Russia overnight and attacked the Saratov region, causing a major fire in the city of Engels, the local governor said on Wednesday.
The region hosts a major air base for strategic bomber planes that form part of Russia’s nuclear forces. Ukraine has attacked the base with drones before, but there was no word on whether it had been targeted on this occasion.
Russian news reports said the fire was at an oil facility. Unverified videos and photos published on social media showed a large fire burning with orange flames, sending thick clouds of smoke into the night sky.
Regional governor Roman Busargin said the cities of Saratov and Engels, on opposite sides of the Volga river, had been subject to a “mass drone attack” and there was a fire at an industrial site, but that there were no known casualties.
“There are sufficient forces and resources to localise the fire,” he posted on Telegram.
Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement that 11 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed overnight over the Saratov region, and 21 over other parts of Russia and the Azov Sea. It did not mention any damage.
The Engels air base is located about 730 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow and hundreds of kilometres from the Ukrainian border. In December 2022, three Russian air force personnel were killed when a drone was shot down there.
Independent news outlet Astra said the oil depot where the fire was burning provided fuel for the air base. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm that.
(Reporting by Felix Light and Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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