Up to six strategic bombers may have been stationed at Russia’s Engels Airbase, which likely came under a Ukrainian drone attack late at night on Sept. 16, Ukrainian outlet Defense Express reported on Sept. 17.
Referring to satellite images of the airfield, the report suggests that four Tu-95 and two Tu-160 strategic bombers might have been parked there. The photos were taken on Sept. 15, published by OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) analyst MT_Anderson on Twitter.
The image also shows two decoy silhouettes of Tu-160 bombers and one transport aircraft, possibly an An-12, the report said.
The journalists noted that the combat load of a Tu-95MS can carry up to 32 Kh-101cruise missiles.
As to why Russia keeps its strategic bombers at Engels Airbase, within the range of Ukrainian drones, Defense Express suggested that Russia might lack the technical capacity to station all its strategic bombers at Olenya Airbase, which is the farthest from the Ukrainian border.
They added that, considering the long reach of Ukrainian drones, the Russian Air Force might find it practical to deploy bombers in a decentralized pattern, spread across multiple airfields.
On Sept. 16, Russian media reported explosions near Engels Airbase in Saratov Oblast.
There are a lot of fires on the ground, so it’s obvious plenty of the debris got through.
Looking at the footage those may just be lights but sounds like 3 explosions in the background.
I’m not sure the orcs are dumb enough to light up the target during an attack, but then again…
From Suchomimus:
Слава Україні!
Героям слава!