SSU and USF joint operation: targets of raid on Saratov region revealed

14 January, 2025 Ukrainian Liutyi attack drone.

2024. Photo credits: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine The infrastructure of the Russian Engels-2 airfield was struck again last night due to a joint operation of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The 14th Separate Regiment of Unmanned Aviation Systems and sources in the SSU reported on this. It was a several-day comprehensive operation to reduce the capabilities of Russian strategic aviation involved in missile strikes against Ukraine. As a result, the oil depot of Rosrezerv's Kristall plant in Engels, Saratov region, was hit for the second time recently.

After the drone strike, tanks with rare aviation fuel caught fire. This oil storage facility is located about 8 kilometers from the Engels-2 strategic aviation airfield, where Russian Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bombers are based.

"We are doing everything possible to ensure that Engels fire brigades, who have just extinguished the flames after the previous strike, are not left without work in the increasingly difficult economic situation in Russia," representatives of the 14th Separate Regiment of Unmanned Aviation Systems stated.

A fire at the Kristall plant in Engels on the morning of January 14, 2025. Image: "KiberBoroshno"

The previous strike on this oil depot took place on January 8, and only on January 13 did the Russians manage to extinguish the fire on its territory.

Also, on the night of January 14, Ukrainian drones hit an oil refinery in Saratov. In the morning, videos of the fire at the plant were posted online.

NASA satellites also recorded the fire in the area of this Russian refinery.

Fire at the Saratov refinery. January 14, 2025, on the NASA fire map

This oil refinery in Russia has already been attacked by Ukrainian attack drones before. As a result of the strike on the night of November 8, 2024, a fire broke out at the enterprise, which local residents filmed.

At the time, it was reported that the UAVs had probably hit a fuel oil tank and one of the special installations.

Saratov Refinery.

Photo: business-vector.info

The Saratov Oil Refinery, also known as the Cracking Plant, is part of the Russian oil company Rosneft and is located in the Zavodsky district of the city.

Its design capacity is 7.0 million tons of oil per year.