Source Residents of Engels are talking about an explosion in the area of a military airfield, the Ministry of Defense reports three dead. In the groups of the city of Engels in social networks today, December 26, early in the morning there was information about new explosions at a military airfield. The Engels Online group on the social network VKontakte posted a photo showing the glow, as well as a short video made, apparently, from a surveillance camera near one of the houses, a single explosion is heard on it.
First, who commented on these data this time turned out to be Governor Roman Busargin. In his TG channel, he stated that there were no emergencies in residential areas, there was no threat to residents, and “stories about the evacuation from the city are a blatant lie created far beyond the borders of the country.” Meanwhile, information about what happened at the military airfield, according to the governor, is being checked by the security forces.
According to RBC, TV channels are already reporting casualties, several ambulances and a fire truck have been seen driving towards the Flying Town. According to the TV channel Baza, an air raid siren went off in the airfield area, there was one explosion. Local residents told the Saratov 24 TV channel about the flash and a loud sound that shook the window panes.
The administration of the Engels District is already trying to reassure citizens on social networks, repeating the message of the governor, but irritated readers of the Engels Online group immediately did not fail to remind officials of uncleaned roads and uncollected garbage, which should also be promptly responded to.
Both the governor and the Engels officials in their official statements decided at the same time to recall the criminal responsibility for disseminating false information, almost threatening the agitated residents. “All data on websites, media and citizens involved in this are promptly sent to law enforcement agencies,” Busargin said.
Otherwise, their statements almost verbatim copy similar messages from December 5, when the air base in Engels, and this is official data confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense, was attacked by a Ukrainian drone. At the same time, statements by officials are posted only in TG channels, but not on the websites of the government of the Saratov region and the administration of the Engels district.
Information about the explosion also appeared first from local residents in social networks, then it was replicated by TG channels, the first official source was the information department of the Engels MR, but officials hastened to declare that they knew nothing. At 11.49 local time, Busargin's comment followed, also stating that not a single civilian infrastructure facility was damaged.
As the Ministry of Defense later explained, air defense systems intercepted the drone and its fragments fell on the airfield, which damaged the skin of two aircraft. According to the official statement of the Ministry of War, both Engels and the airfield in Ryazan were attacked on December 5, while there were injuries and deaths among the technical staff of the airfields.
Subsequently, RIA Novosti claimed that the American company Maxar aimed a drone at Engels through their commercial satellites, which filmed the air base a few days before the emergency on December 5.
Immediately after the explosion on December 5, as both the administration of the Engels MR and the governor's press service stated, anonymous calls began to pester the residents of Engels with reports of an allegedly impending evacuation from the city. Provocations of this kind, both by phone and in instant messengers, were also reported by the citizens themselves. Officials urged not to believe such statements. Probably, Busargin's current statement is also explained by the expectation of a new wave of anonymous calls.
Update 9.50. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation confirmed the information about the state of emergency. “On the approach to the military airfield in Engels on the night of December 26, air defense systems shot down a Ukrainian drone. As a result of the fall of its wreckage, three servicemen were mortally wounded,” the official statement says.
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