Airbase housing Putin's prized £130m supersonic Blackjack bombers deep inside Russian territory 'is struck by Ukrainian kamikaze drones'

Ukraine hit a key Russian airbase used for nuclear bombers in an overnight kamikaze drone strike as part of a consolidated aerial bombardment of several border regions. 

The 'explosions and fire' at the airbase came as pro-Putin sources also accused Kyiv of targeting a nuclear power plant in Kursk region.

Explosions were heard at Engels air base in the Saratov region, home of Vladimir Putin's Tu-160 'Blackjack', Tu-95 'Bear' and Tu-22 strike aircraft, late last night. 

All of these planes are capable of carrying nuclear missiles but have been used to strike Ukraine with conventional bombs throughout the past two years of war. 

Independent Russia media outlet Astra said its sources indicated three out of four kamikaze drones had struck the Engels-2 air base, with multiple explosions from the drones picked up by security cameras. 

Ukrainian media today confirmed that the GUR military intelligence agency had conducted the strikes. 

Regional governor Roman Busargin claimed all the incoming Ukrainian drones were 'eliminated' over Engels - but locals gave contradictory accounts. 

Explosions were heard at Engels air base in Saratov region, home of Vladimir Putin 's Tu-160 'Blackjack', Tu-95 'Bear' and Tu-22 strike aircraft, late last night

A Tu-160 'Blackjack' strategic bomber

Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-95MS in-flight

Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-22

'The air defence system worked promptly and effectively. There were no casualties or damage to infrastructure from falling debris,' Busargin insisted.

But resident Danil Arkhipov told media this morning: 'I live very close to the airfield. It was hit once the others were shot down by the air defence. 

'Then the ambulance, police and fire fighters with lights flashing were seen.

'The alarm siren is still screaming and something is quietly exploding at the airfield. Seems like something is burning.'

Russian news outlets also claimed that Ukraine had targeted the Kurchatov nuclear power plant in Kursk region with at least five kamikaze drones and one S-200 missile.

All were shot down by air defence, pro-Kremlin Mash media reported. But the Vysoka electric substation was hit, blacking out some of Kursk city.

Ukraine has said it will never target a nuclear power station, but Russian paramilitary partisans opposed to Putin in Ukraine have warned they will strike military targets in Kursk region.

Meanwhile, border region Belgorod was again today under siege from Ukraine, having sustained a string of shelling and drone attacks in recent weeks. 

Some 9,000 children are to be evacuated from the region which Putin has failed to keep safe, and travel restrictions are being put in place to minimise casualties. 

Despite a shortage of Western weapons, Ukraine has had significant successes in recent weeks with its homemade kamikaze drones - both air and sea - using its long-range firepower to strike deep behind Russian lines, hitting oil refineries, depots, manufacturing facilities and supply lines.

The attacks on border regions Belgorod and Kursk have raised alarm among locals and government officials, particularly after groups claiming to be Ukraine-based Russian opponents of the Kremlin also launched cross-border incursions.

FILE PHOTO: Satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows several Tu-160 and Tu-95 strategic bombers at the Engels airfield 

Russian news outlets also claimed that Ukraine had targeted the Kurchatov nuclear power plant in Kursk region with at least five kamikaze drones and one S-200 missile

Ukrainian soldiers unload explosive charges in the Adiivka front-line as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues in Adiivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on March 13, 2024

A handout still image taken from handout video provided by the Russian Defence Ministry's press-service shows destroyed military equipment of sabotage and reconnaissance groups of Ukraine at the border crossing near the settlement of Nekhoteevka, Belgorod region, Russia, 12 March 2024

Regional governors Vyacheslev Gladkov and Roman Stavropoit each reported several civilian casualties from Ukraine-authored strikes in their territories last week, with thousands of residents said to have fled their homes in the run up to the weekend's presidential elections. 

The attacks continued into this week, with three people wounded in a strike on Belgorod yesterday morning, Gladkov said, including a 14-year-old who had part of a limb amputated. His mother was also reportedly hurt in the attack. 

The previous day, four members of the same family died in an attack on the Belgorod village of Nikolskoe, according to Gladkov. 

A grandmother, mother, her partner and 17-year-old son were killed after a missile struck their house, he said.

Putin said he would consider implementing a buffer zone between Ukrainian and Russian territory in an attempt to reduce the effectiveness of Kyiv's aerial assaults. 

'We will be forced at some point, when we consider it necessary, to create a certain ''sanitary zone'' on the territories controlled by the (Ukrainian government),' Putin said late Sunday after the release of election returns that showed him securing a fifth six-year term in a landslide.

This 'security zone would be quite difficult to penetrate using the foreign-made strike assets at the enemy's disposal.'

Russia has also stepped up its aerial assault of various Ukrainian towns and cities in recent weeks. 

Ukraine's air force said it intercepted 17 out of 22 Shahed drones launched by Russia over various regions of the country just last night. 

Russia also fired five S-300/S-400 missiles at the Kharkiv region and two Kh-59 at the Sumy region, both in northeastern Ukraine, it said.

Authorities say the intensity of ground attacks and airstrikes has increased recently in the Sumy region, prompting the evacuation of 56 people, including 26 children, from one border village over the past week.

In the past two and a half months the region has been struck more than 3,000 times, after some 8,000 strikes over all of last year, the Ukrainian regional government says.