Russia builds bomber shelters at Engels as Ukrainian strikes reach deeper — NV infographic

In early September 2026, the OSINT community AviVector reported that satellite imagery showed construction beginning on the first of 16 planned shelters.

The shelters are being built as the range and intensity of Ukrainian strikes increase. On the night of Aug. 28, Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck a Tu-95MS strategic bomber at Engels airfield, along with an ammunition depot and a fuel and lubricants depot. The Ukrainian drones traveled 800 km to reach the target, Ukraine’s SBU Security Service said.

NV’s infographic details what is known about Engels-2 and Ukraine’s attacks on the air base.

Engels-2 air base

• Location: Engels, Russia (coordinates: 51.481111, 46.210556)
• Year built: 1950
• Distance from Ukraine: 700 km
• Runway length: 3.5 km
• Runway width: 70 m

Aircraft that can be based at the air base

• Tu-95MS and Tu-160 missile-carrying bombers
• Su-34 fighter-bombers
• Su-35 multirole fighters
• Su-25 ground-attack aircraft
• An-12 and Il-76 military transport aircraft
• Mi-8 helicopters

Approximate shelter dimensions

• Width: 63 m
• Length: 63 m
• Side wall height: 7 m
• Maximum height: 17 m

Major Ukrainian attacks on Engels-2 air base over the past two years

• On Jan. 8, 2025 — a petroleum products storage facility that supplied fuel to the Engels-2 military airfield was hit
• On Jan. 14, 2025 — the oil depot was struck again, setting fire to tanks containing aviation fuel for Tu-160 bombers
• On March 20, 2025 — 96 cruise missiles were destroyed at an ammunition and fuel depot. Two crew members of a Tu-95MS bomber were killed
• On July 17, 2026 — long-range drones destroyed a Tu-95MS bomber
• On Aug. 2, 2026 — infrastructure and life-support systems at the military airfield were hit
• On Aug. 28, 2026 — Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck a Russian Tu-95MS bomber

Data from OSINT AviVector, Militarnyi and Planet Labs