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Satellite images reveal extensive damage at Engels-2 airbase in Russia

Ukraine’s March 20 drone attack on Engels-2 destroyed weapons storage facilities used by bombers that launch missiles against Ukraine.

byYuri Zoria

22/03/2025

4 minute read

satellite images reveal extensive damage engels-2 airbase russia aftermath 20 ukrainian drone attack russia's strategic bomber base engels ukraine's destroyed weapons storage facilities used bombers launch missiles against ukraine imagery

Aftermath of the 20 March Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Engels-2 strategic bomber base. Photo: Maxar, via X/Mike_Eckel

Satellite images reveal extensive damage at Engels-2 airbase in Russia

Satellite imagery confirms extensive damage to ammunition storage facilities at the Russian strategic bomber base Engels-2 some 600 km from Ukraine after Kyiv’s powerful drone attack this week.

Ukraine’s strikes on the Engels-2 base and other cross-border targets underscore its broader campaign to disrupt and degrade Russia’s military infrastructure deep within its borders amid the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. The airbase, home to Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers, has been targeted multiple times throughout the war, with this being the third attack this year alone, following two strikes in January. Russian strategic bombers stationed there launch missile strikes on Ukrainian territory, suggesting that Kh-101 cruise missiles were likely among the munitions destroyed in the recent attack.

Ukraine’s Security Service sources said on 20 March that its drone pilots and the Ukrainian Army’s Special Operations Forces struck the Engels-2 airfield in Russia’s Saratov Oblast the night before.

Satellite images by Maxar Technologies, shared by Business Insider and Radio Liberty journalist Mike Eckel on 21 March, revealed the aftermath of the attack. The strikes damaged an ammunition and weapons storage area, with explosions destroying multiple buildings and bunkers. The images showed the destruction of all warehouse buildings in the storage area, as well as several craters at the location of open platforms for ammunition storage. Signs of fire were visible on the adjacent territory.

Overview of Engels airbase and ammunition bunkers after a Ukrainian attack, 21 March 2025. Photo: Maxar, via Business Insides

Local residents reported powerful explosions early in the morning of 20 March, with blasts heard as far away as Saratov city, located approximately 15 km from the airbase. Videos later published online showed powerful secondary detonations of ammunition that reportedly continued for at least several hours.

Aftermath of the 20 March Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Engels-2 strategic bomber base. Photo: Maxar, via X/Mike_Eckel — Russian Engels-2 airbase’s ammunition storage area before (L) and after (R) the 20 March Ukrainian drone attack. Photo: Maxar, via X/Mike_Eckel

The Russian governor of Saratov Oblast wrote in his Telegram post that the area suffered “the most massive UAV attack of all time” after the overnight strikes. Russia’s defense ministry claimed the same day that it had engaged and shot down 134 drones overnight across multiple regions.

Explosions and fire reported at Russia’s Engels-2 strategic bomber base after SBU drone assault (video)

Previous attacks

This is far from the first attack on the airbase and its associated infrastructure during the war. In January, Ukrainian drones twice struck aviation fuel storage facilities for Russian strategic bombers in Engels.

This year’s first attack took place on 8 January, when explosions rocked the Rosrezerv Kristal plant’s oil depot around 3 a.m., igniting a fire that burned for five days.

Drones returned on 14 January, delivering at least two strikes that triggered another blaze, with the operation executed by the 14th Separate UAV Regiment of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces in coordination with other defense units.

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