The Governor of the Saratov Region, Roman Busargin, announced the declaration of a state of emergency (EMERCOM) in Engels due to a fire at the oil storage facility of the Rosrezerv, which was attacked by drones. The decision was made in response to the increasing size of the fire, he explained.
According to Busargin, the fire was so intense that two emergency services employees were killed while trying to extinguish it, and another was hospitalized. The governor added that throughout the day, specialists from the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) have been taking air samples in the affected area, and no excessive pollutants have been detected so far.
Engels was hit by a mass attack of Ukrainian drones on the night of January 8. Busargin reported that debris fell on an "industrial enterprise," causing a fire. Media outlets geolocated footage of the impact site and determined that the target was the oil depot of the Kristall plant of Rosrezerv, which stores fuel for the Engels-2 airfield — a base for strategic bombers used in the war against Ukraine.
The Ukrainian General Staff later confirmed the strike on the oil storage facility, noting that hitting the facility "creates serious logistical problems for the strategic aviation of Russian occupiers and significantly reduces their ability to strike at peaceful Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure." The Ukrainian Air forces clarified that the storage held gasoline, as well as diesel and aviation fuel.
This is the third Rosrezerv storage facility to be targeted by Ukraine. Earlier, drones attacked similar facilities in the Rostov region, including the oil depot in Proletarsky and the Atlas plant in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky. In the first case, the fire was extinguished only after 18 days, and in the second case, after 12 days. Following these incidents, President Vladimir Putin dismissed General-Lieutenant Sergei Filippov, head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Rostov region.
