Russia blames Ukraine after strike on factory building Putin’s bridge linking Russia to Crimea

Moscow reported early today a major attack on a plant in its Belgorod region bordering Ukraine.

Video showed a spectacular blaze at a factory which makes parts for Vladimir Putin’s bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea.

Reports said flames rose 170ft into the night sky.

Russian accounts said there had been a shelling attack while witnesses also said they heard gunfire.

The factory fire broke out this morning in Borisovka in the west of the Belgorod Oblast 

An oil depot at or near the plant evidently exploded with fire damage spreading to the Borisovsky Bridge Metal Structures Plant.

‘At night, a civilian industrial facility in Borisovka was attacked by the Armed Forces of Ukraine,’ said regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

He said ‘no one was injured, the company’s employees were evacuated in time.

‘Now everything is being done to ensure that the damage is minimal.’

A report from Telegram channel Horizontal Russia said: ‘A large fire started at the plant due to shelling in the Belgorod region.

‘The shells hit the territory of an industrial plant in the Borisovsky district.’

Windows in the vicinity smashed by the force of the blast.

Belgorod has reported dozens of attacks from Ukraine after Putin launched his illegal invasion.

Other reports said there had been a shift at work in the plant when the attack came, adding there was no word about victims.

The same site had been attacked in May last year, according to accounts.

Ukraine last year attacked the Crimean Bridge, crossing the Kerch Strait, causing serious damage to the structure.

The Belgorod region plant supplies metal structures for this and other bridges.

Red skies over Borisovka, Russia, as an oil depot near the plant after shelling of the region

Borisovsky Bridge Metal Structures Plan in Borisovka, Belgorod, on the border with Ukraine