Explosions were reported Monday at Russian air base that is home to the country's supersonic strategic bombers just days after satellite imagery suggested the site was being used to prepare for a massive new bombing campaign in Ukraine.
Writing on Telegram, Roman Busargin, governor of the Saratov region, appeared to confirm that several blasts occurred. "The incidents at military facilities [are] being checked by law enforcement agencies," he wrote, stating that no civilian infrastructure was damaged.
The Russian Ministry of Defense later issued a statement attributing the blasts to a Ukrainian attack.
According to the ministry, Ukraine used Soviet-era "unmanned aerial vehicles" to strike at its Engels base, in the Saratov oblast, and another airfield, Dyagilevo. Two Russian aircraft were "slightly damaged," the ministry claimed, from "fragments" of the attacking vehicles, which it claimed to have destroyed. Four soldiers were also injured, it said.
The International Association of Fire Fighters called on Monday for the elimination of protective gear that...
