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Engels and Saratov hit
Ukraine said it carried out long-range overnight strikes deep inside Russia, targeting the Engels airbase and a Saratov oil refinery, with President Volodymyr Zelensky describing the attacks as "our long-range sanctions."
“"our long-range sanctions"”
Zelensky said Ukrainian forces struck the Engels airbase and an oil refinery in Russia's Saratov region, about 600 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, and also targeted an oil depot in Kaluga and a drone launch site in Bryansk.
The BBC reported that Russia said eight people were killed in the Ukrainian strikes, and that it also reported 635 drones shot down or intercepted overnight.
Ukrainian officials said the Saratov refinery was hit and a fire broke out, and the Caspian Post reported that Engels airfield was struck with a fire reported after the attack.
The BBC added that Moscow said its forces attacked overnight two Ukrainian ports and two vessels in the Black Sea, while Ukraine later reported one person killed in a Russian strike on a postal terminal near Kharkiv.
Claims, counterclaims, and drones
The BBC said Zelensky described the Engels airfield and Saratov oil refinery as "strategic facilities," and it reported that the Ukrainian military said the attack triggered a blaze at the airfield.
In the same BBC account, Saratov regional Governor Roman Busargin admitted that "a drone attack caused damage to civilian infrastructure in Saratov and Engels," and he later said that two people were killed.
AzerNews reported that Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted or destroyed 635 Ukrainian drones overnight, while Russia also reported that a warehouse belonging to Wildberries was struck.
Euronews reported that the commander of the drone forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Robert Brovdi (codename 'Magyar'), wrote that the Wildberries warehouse in the Samara region was the 'main bridge' between Russia's European part and Siberia—and promised that this was 'certainly not the last' strike.
The BBC also said that in the Samara region, Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev described a strike on a Wildberries warehouse that caused a fire as "yet another terrorist act" by Ukraine, and he reported no casualties in the overnight attack.
What comes next
Ukraine framed the strikes as part of efforts to reduce the military-economic potential of the Russian aggressor, with the ANTI-KOR report quoting the General Staff that "units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine struck the Saratov Oil Refinery" as part of that aim.
“"units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine struck the Saratov Oil Refinery"”
The ANTI-KOR account said the Saratov refinery has a processing capacity of about 7 million tons of oil per year and that the extent of damage is being assessed, while it also said the Engels airfield was struck and that a fire followed on the airfield territory.
Ukrinform reported that the Saratov refinery is owned by Rosneft and that it supplies the military-industrial complex and the Russian armed forces, and it added that since the start of the war it has already been targeted at least 15 times.
In parallel, Euronews described a fire at a Wildberries warehouse in Russia's Samara region after an attack, and it said Wildberries stated that no casualties had yet been reported and that "logistics chains have been reorganized."
The BBC said both Russia and Ukraine have recently intensified attacks focusing on major cities, energy facilities and warehouses, as the front line remains virtually static and US-led mediation attempts to end the war have shown no breakthrough.
