Mystery fire breaks out at Putin’s warplane factory

A mysterious fire has erupted inside a Moscow industrial complex where Vladimir Putin’s Sukhoi fighter jets are designed.

It is unclear whether the inferno was the latest in a string of Ukrainian sabotage attacks of key Russian strategic facilities.

But the blaze comes after a heavy barrage of attacks from both sides in recent days which at one point saw NATO warplanes scrambled on the alliance’s eastern flank.

At least 70 drones were aimed at Rostov, which borders occupied Ukraine, causing power cuts and major explosions in the vicinity of Morozovsk military airfield.

A fuel depot ignited in fire in the Russian region of Voronezh, and Kursk region was also hit.

Spectacular footage separately emerged of Russia exploding a Ukrainian kamikaze drone in a fireball over Vladimir region.

Over the same region, a Sukhoi Su-30SM warplane was seen firing a missile at an incoming UAV.

A raging fire was seen at a facility linked to the Sukhoi Design Bureau, reported MSK1 media outlet.

Russian sources said the fire was in a ‘non-operational’ building at the strongly guarded facility.

Fire near Sukhoi warplane design bureau in Moscow, Russia (Picture: east2west News)

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet global leaders at a summit this weekend to explore ways of ending the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two.

But Russia was not invited and China, a key consumer of Russian oil and supplier of goods that help Moscow maintain its manufacturing base, will not be there.

‘This meeting is already a result,’ Zelensky said in Berlin on Tuesday, while also acknowledging the challenge of maintaining international support as the war, now well into its third year, grinds on.

‘Uniting countries who are partners and non-partners is a difficult mission in itself for Ukraine, when the war is not in its first month.’

Ulrich Schmid, a political scientist and Eastern Europe expert at the University of St Gallen in Switzerland, called the summit ‘a mixed bag’, given the show of support from some quarters and China’s absence.

‘Then the question arises: is peace actually doable?’ Schmid added. ‘As long as (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is in power… it will be difficult.’

On the battlefield, the gathering comes at a difficult time for Ukraine.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet global leaders at a summit this weekend (Picture: EPA)

Russian troops, who control around 18% of Ukrainian territory, are advancing in the east in a war that has killed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, left villages, towns and cities in ruins and uprooted millions.

Given such headwinds and the entrenched differences between Ukraine and Russia, the summit will shy away from territorial issues and focus on parts of Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan that are broad enough to be palatable to most, if not all, participants.

These include the need to guarantee food security, nuclear safety, freedom of navigation and prisoner exchanges, officials said.

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