Three people were killed when a fuel tanker exploded at a Russian air base today, Russia’s state news agency RIA reported, and a regional governor confirmed reports of an explosion at another base that houses bombers that are part of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces.
RIA reported that six other people were injured in the tanker explosion in Ryazan, 185 km southeast of Moscow.
Roman Bushargin, governor of Saratov province further southeast, reassured residents after reports on social media of a “loud bang and flash” at the region’s Engels air base.
“I want to assure you that there were no emergency situations in residential areas of the city. There are no reasons for concern. No civilian infrastructure was damaged,” Bushargin stressed on Telegram.
“Information about incidents at military installations is controlled by law enforcement agencies,” he added.
The Engels base is located approximately 730 km southeast of Moscow. It is one of two strategic bomber bases that house Russia’s aerial nuclear capability, the other being located in the Amur region of the Russian Far East.
Russia has 60 to 70 strategic bombers of two types: the Tu-95MS Bear and the Tu-160 Blackjack. Both are capable of carrying nuclear bombs and cruise missiles armed with nuclear weapons.
Ryazan and Saratov are hundreds of kilometers from Ukraine, where Russia’s invasion is now in its 10th month. Today, Russia launched a new round of missile attacks in many areas of Ukraine.
Asked about the incidents, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “I don’t have that information. I just saw the media reports, but I don’t have any concrete information. I can’t comment. I recommend that you contact the Ministry of Defence.”
Asked if President Vladimir Putin was aware of the events, Peskov replied: “Of course. The president regularly receives all the relevant information from the competent services”.
Ukrainian officials commented on the events playfully.
The adviser to the Ukrainian president, Mykhailo Podoliak, wrote on Twitter: “If something is launched into the airspace of other countries, sooner or later, unidentified flying objects will return to the place from which they were launched.”
Ukraine has previously demonstrated the ability to strike strategic Russian targets well beyond the 1,100-kilometer front line in southern and eastern Ukraine.
In August, at least seven Russian fighter jets were destroyed by explosions at a Russian airbase on the southwestern coast of Russian-annexed Crimea.
Ukraine has not publicly claimed responsibility for this incident or for a series of explosions at sites such as weapons depots and fuel depots in Russian areas near the border with Ukraine. He has said, however, that such incidents are “karma” for the Russian invasion.
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