Drone strike causes massive fire at Engels oil depot in Saratov region, Russia

In the Saratov region of the Russian Federation, on the night of January 8, unknown drones attacked the city of Engels. According to the preliminary data, they targeted an oil storage facility and hit the "Kristal" plant of Rosrezerv.

The governor of the Saratov region, Roman Busargin, reported on the shelling of the city.

According to reports, a fire occurred following several explosions. The Russians released online footage of the aftermath of the attacks.

"Engels airfield, Saratov region of the Russian Federation – explosions, fires," Ukrainian monitoring forums reported.

Soon, it became known that an oil storage facility had been hit in Engels.

Based on initial data, the oil storage facility at Rosrezerv's "Kristal" plant was struck. It stores aviation fuel for the Engels-2 airbase.

Later, the Crimean Wind Telegram channel published a photo confirming that this facility was the target of the attack. A mighty fire was recorded directly in the fuel tanks' area.

The Rosrezerv Combine "Kristal" oil depot is approximately 7 km from the Engels-2 air base. There are at least 70 fuel tanks on the facility's territory.

According to the governor, as a result of the attack on Saratov and Engels, one of the industrial enterprises was damaged, allegedly due to falling drone debris. No one was injured as a result of the attack.

Busargin said that Russian air defense allegedly shot down a UAV.

"There is debris hitting an industrial facility in Engels. Fire crews and emergency services are working on the scene," he wrote.

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It is worth mentioning that in the Smolensk region of the Russian Federation, there were reports of a drone attack that caused damage to an oil depot.

In addition, on the night of December 19, the Ukrainian Defense Forces struck the infrastructure and production facilities of Novoshakhtinsk Oil Products Plant, located in the Rostov region of the Russian Federation. This operation was carried out with the participation of the Naval Forces of Ukraine's armed forces, the Security Service of Ukraine, and other defense components.

Also, fighters of the Unmanned Systems Forces and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense struck an oil depot in the Bryansk region of the Russian Federation, attacking it on the night of December 11.