Dramatic footage has captured the moment an Aurus limousine "from Vladimir Putin's official car fleet" exploded and caught fire in Moscow.

Videos showed the $357,000 Aurus Senat ablaze on a street just north of Moscow's FSB secret service Lubyanka headquarters.The engine fire spread to the interior of the vehicle. Flames could be seen erupting from the engine as witnesses franticaly worked to put the fire out.

Firefighters rushed to the scene and thick, dark, smoke billowed out of the car as they flooded the engine with water. Reports did not reveal who was using the car - believed to be owned by Putin's Presidential Property Management Department - when the shocking incident occurred.