Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on Thursday night, targeting – among other things – an oil refinery in the town of Engels in Russia‘s Saratov region, causing a major fire at the facility. The strike occurred a short distance from the Engels-2 air base, one of the Russian Air Force’s most important strategic centers.

Videos posted by residents on the Telegram platform and republished by independent Russian media such as the Astra channel show columns of fire rising in the sky after the attack, and there are reports of damage to a residential building.

Saratov Region Governor Roman Busargin said the fire broke out at an “industrial facility” without naming the establishment, confirming the mobilisation of emergency services. According to the same source, there are no reports of casualties.

Rosaviatsiya, Russia’s federal civil aviation authority, announced restrictions on flights at Saratov airport due to the threat from drones.

The strike on the refinery brings to the fore the earlier attack on the same facility, known as the Kristal Plant, which reportedly fuels the Engels-2 air base. Russian Tu-95, Tu-160 and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers – types of aircraft that have been used repeatedly for massive missile attacks against Ukraine – are stationed there.

The Russian side claimed to have shot down a total of 174 Ukrainian drones targeting 12 regions, as well as Crimea, without providing any evidence. This information could not be independently confirmed by the Kyiv Independent.

The attack on Engels comes just days after a large-scale operation by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) codenamed Operation Spiderweb, which reportedly destroyed or hit at least 41 Russian strategic aircraft at four different bases (Belaya, Diaghilev, Olenya, Ivanovo), causing damage estimated at around $7 billion.

This was followed by attacks on the Crimean bridge, a military base in Vladivostok and a missile facility in Bryansk.

The Engels-2 air base, about 600 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, has been targeted by Ukraine repeatedly since the start of the Russian invasion. On March 20, a Ukrainian attack destroyed 96 cruise missiles, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.

Ukrainian attacks, increasingly frequent and deep into Russian territory, appear to be aimed at weakening Russian strategic air power and its ability to strike Ukraine from afar.