Civilian infrastructure in Engels was damaged after an attack by Ukrainian drones, according to Roman Busargin, the governor of the Saratov region. He said there were no casualties. The regional head gave no further details about the consequences in the city.
The outlet Astra and the Ukrainian monitoring Telegram channel Exilenova+, citing photos and videos from witnesses, say that one of the drones struck a multi-story residential building. Footage published online appears to show the drone hitting one of the upper floors.
According to Astra, the building was the Ladya residential complex, located about two kilometers from the Engels-2 military airbase. The outlet gave that estimate based on the reported location of the strike.
Astra also reported, citing witness footage, that a fire broke out at the airbase itself. It remained unclear at the time of publication what exactly had caught fire. Engels-2 had previously been targeted multiple times.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that on the night of July 16, air defenses shot down 375 drones over 18 Russian regions, as well as over annexed Crimea and the Azov and Black seas.
Ukrainian drones attack Russian regions almost daily. The Ukrainian military says such strikes are aimed at military and industrial facilities. Against that backdrop, drone attacks have already led to suspensions at oil facilities in Russia.