Engels-2 airbase
Engels-2 airbase is a military airfield operated by the Russian Aerospace Forces near the city of Engels in Saratov Oblast. It serves as one of the two principal bases for Russia's strategic long-range aviation, hosting Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers. The base gained prominence during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a launch site for cruise missile strikes against Ukrainian targets.
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Assassination attempt on Russian general in Engels days after Ukraine notified him of suspicion over Okhmatdyt strike
An unknown assailant on a motorcycle shot and critically wounded a Russian Aerospace Forces officer on the morning of 3 September in the settlement of Probuzhdeniye near Engels, Saratov Oblast. Russian media identified the victim as Major General Mykola Varpakhovych, commander of the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division. The attack came three days after Ukraine's SBU and the Office of the Prosecutor General notified Varpakhovych in absentia of suspicion in connection with the July 2024 missile strike on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv.