The Saratov Regional Airport in Russia announced on August 27 that it was officially removing some flight restrictions it imposed after a Ukrainian drone attack that wounded an elderly woman and damaged numerous homes in the area. Russian officials said those who live in the city, along with the Russian people, don’t have to worry about future attacks from Ukraine, as the situation was already “controlled” and the airport can restart its regular operations again.
On his Telegram channel, regional governor Roman Rusargin explained that the drone attack from Ukraine was “coward” and “desperate.” He added that the damage created by the drone to some residential complexes in Saratov happened because of its falling debris after being destroyed by a Russian air defense system. Rusargin detailed that while the drone failed to accomplish its mission, it almost killed an elderly woman who had to be hospitalized in “serious conditions” in a hospital nearby. He added that he sent the emergency services not only to Saratov but also to Engels, as the two cities suffered some power outages.
In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its air defense systems neutralized nine Ukrainian drones over the city, which is located 560 miles away from the Ukrainian border. The ministry added that the main goal of the drones was to destroy a bomber military base that the Russian Armed Forces have in Engels.
Russian independent journalists said on their Telegram channels that while the drones didn’t completely destroy that military base, it has been severely damaged after receiving numerous attacks from Ukraine. These attacks started a couple of months after the Kremlin decided to invade Ukraine in 2022, with the Russian government being forced to execute many reconstructions to maintain operations on the military base.
Over the last few weeks, the war in Ukraine has escalated so much that the armed conflict is now taking place in Russia as well after Ukrainian troops also invaded the country and took some territories. The situation happened at a moment when many military experts predicted that Russia was very close to winning the war after gaining numerous victories and conquering more territories in Ukraine.
Experts believe that Ukraine’s main goal in that strategy is to force the Russian military to move most of its personnel to the areas in Russia that Ukraine has already taken so the Ukrainian Armed Forces can gain momentum at home. Others believe that the reason why the Ukrainian military took such a risky step was to force the Kremlin to reach a peace accord where the Ukrainian government could offer the Russian territories it took. In exchange, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would formally ask his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to order the Russian military to leave the numerous areas it has occupied from Ukraine in exchange.
