The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has announced updated information on its latest attack against Russian military infrastructure, claiming that a strike on the Engels-2 airfield in Russia’s Saratov region resulted in the destruction of 96 air-launched missiles.
The attack, carried out by Ukrainian Defense Forces on March 20, reportedly targeted key aviation fuel depots and military stockpiles at the airbase. The Engels airfield, home to Tu-class bombers and a storage site for guided aerial bombs and cruise missiles, has been frequently used by the Russian military to launch attacks against Ukraine.
In the immediate aftermath of the strike, the governor of the Saratov region, Roman Busargin, confirmed that a fire had broken out at the site, prompting the evacuation of residents near the facility. A “municipal state of emergency” was subsequently declared in the Engels district.
The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that 54 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the Saratov region on March 20 but made no mention of an attack on the Engels military airfield. However, on the same day, Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed it had targeted the site but initially refrained from providing details on the extent of the damage.
On March 25, British military intelligence described the strike as the most successful Ukrainian attack on a Russian ammunition depot since the beginning of 2025.
This is not the first time Ukraine has targeted Engels-2. The airfield previously came under drone attack in December 2022, marking one of the first confirmed strikes by Ukrainian forces deep inside Russian territory. Since then, several Ukrainian drone strikes have also hit Engels’ oil infrastructure, including a January 2025 attack on the Kombinat Kristall oil depot, which resulted in a fire that burned for more than a week and led to a state of emergency in the city.
Ukraine has consistently maintained that military facilities and enterprises in Russia and annexed Crimea that contribute to the war effort remain legitimate targets.
