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Ukraine Strikes One of Russia’s Nuclear Bomber Hubs
In the early hours of Wednesday, Ukrainian drones, under the command of the GUR military intelligence, made an incursion into Russian airspace, striking the Engels-2 airbase deep behind enemy lines.
Kyiv is now evaluating the impact of this strike, as revealed by an insider within Ukrainian intelligence to Reuters.
An unspecified number of Ukrainian drones were seen over the city of Engels in Russia’s Saratov Oblast, in Southwestern Russia.
The Engels-2 airbase houses Russian Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers, which have repeatedly launched missile strikes on Ukraine throughout the more than two years of war.
The Tupolev Tu-95 — NATO reporting name: “Bear-H” — is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and represents the mainstay of one of Russia’s nuclear triad capabilities, along with ICBMs and ballistic submarines.
As of March 2024, the Russian air force has roughly 55 Tu-95 Bears in service — so every one that Ukraine takes out is a huge win.
This image that I grabbed from satellite shows no less than six Bears at Engels as of June 2023 — five on the ramp and one on the flight line.
