Unverified footage on Telegram appears to show one of the vessels broken in half, with streaks of oil visible on the surface of the water. The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday in the Kerch Strait waterway separating annexed Crimea and mainland Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a working group to be set up to “organize rescue operations and cleanup works after the oil spill,” his press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
Two rescue tugboats and two helicopters have been dispatched. The Russian emergencies ministry said one crew member died.
Both vessels have a loading capacity of about 4,200 metric tons of oil products, according to Reuters.
