Russian tank factory rocked by massive explosion in latest blow to Putin

A RUSSIAN factory making engines for Putin's tanks and armoured vehicles has been rocked by a massive explosion.

A fireball shot into the sky after the blast at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant in the Ural mountains near the border with Kazakhstan.

A powerful "explosion" was reported by locals - with footage showing the moment the factory goes up in flames in a huge inferno.

The plant is under US and Ukrainian sanctions as "an enterprise specialising in the production of diesel engines for military equipment for the needs of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation".