A HUGE blaze engulfed a warehouse near Moscow today in the latest mystery fire to hit Russia.

The warehouse, in the town of Ramenskoye, broke into flames this morning and sent smoke billowing across the skyline.

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TASS state news agency reported: "The size of the fire is 1,800 square metres."

Another state news agency, RIA, reported that the fire broke out at a fertiliser storage.

Ammonium nitrate, a chemical commonly used in agricultural fertilizers, is highly flammable, and could explain how the blaze spread so quickly.

Videos of the fire posted online show thick black smoke and flames, seen from hundreds of metres away.

Ramenskoye is close to Zhukovsky International Airport, one of the major airports out of Moscow.

It is the latest mystery fire to break out in the Russian capital in recent months in the wake of Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this year, 2,500 square metres went up in flames next to the Dzerzhinsky power plant in the southeastern suburbs of Moscow.

In April, another major blaze broke out in Dzerzhinsky, which was infamous during the Soviet era for producing chemical weapons.

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The out-of-control fire started in the brick warehouse of a chemicals plant in the suburb, which has a number of defence-related facilities.

Also last month, flames ripped through the Russian defence ministry just metres from the Kremlin where President Putin was holding talks.

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