Ukraine strikes strategic Russian airbase that hosts nuclear bombers

Ukraine attacked a strategic Russian airbase housing nuclear-capable bombers early Thursday, according to Russian media — leaving a giant mushroom cloud that could be seen for miles.The drone attack hit the Soviet-era base in Engels, which hosts Russia’s Tupolev Tu-160 nuclear-capable heavy strategic bombers, colloquially known as White Swans.Verified videos showed a large explosion spreading from the airfield and destroying nearby cottages.Other clips showed a massive mushroom cloud ascending over damaged buildings as 10 people were injured, according to local officials.Ukraine’s defense ministry confirmed its forces had struck the airfield and triggered secondary detonations of ammunition.Russia’s defense ministry, meanwhile, claimed that its air defenses had shot down 132 Ukrainian drones over Russian areas Thursday.The drone attack comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected an unconditional 30-day cease-fire that Washington and Kyiv agreed to last week.Putin rejected President Trump’s proposal of a full, unconditional cease-fire with Ukraine on Tuesday — but agreed to halt attacks on “energy and infrastructure,” which the Ukrainian military has successfully targeted of late.Trump later spoke for roughly an hour with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, saying it was “to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs.”Ukraine has attacked the Engels air base before, hitting it for the first time in December 2022.In January, the Ukrainian military claimed it struck an oil depot in a drone attack serving the key base that sparked a fire that took five days to extinguish.With Post Wires...