96 Kh-101 cruise missiles went up in flames.
On the morning of March 20, Ukrainian drones targeted the Russian air force bomber base at Engels for the third time in 10 weeks. According to the Ukrainian general staff, the resulting blast destroyed 96 Kh-101 cruise missiles—some of Russia’s best munitions for striking Ukrainian cities.
Launched by Tupolev Tu-95 and Tu-160 heavy bombers, each Kh-101 travels as far as 560 miles with a 1,000-pound warhead. The general staff in Kyiv claimed planners in Moscow had designated the targeted Kh-101s for raids on Ukrainian cities this month and next.
Those 96 destroyed missiles accounted for two months of production at the Raduga Design Bureau munitions factory near Moscow. Each Kh-101 costs at least $10 million. That means the strike on Engels may have carried a price tag of $9.6 billion—not counting the additional damage to fuel storage and other facilities at the base.
As explosions rocked the base and smoke billowed into the sky on March 20, Engels was “facing serious difficulties,” the Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communication quipped. Indeed, the difficulties began two months ago.
On Jan.
