[Two Russian cargo ships carrying oil products are in distress after bad weather in the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and annexed Crimea. A helicopter rescue team has evacuated the 13-person crew from one of the vessels, the “Volgoneft 212”, which was damaged after running aground and suffered one known fatality.
The second cargo ship, “Volgoneft 239”, has 14 people on board and went adrift after sustaining damage in the same region. An operational headquarters is working to respond to the incident, involving over 50 specialists and 11 units of equipment.
The extent of a possible oil spill is being assessed, and a video circulating on unofficial Ukrainian and Russian Telegram channels appears to show a large cargo ship snapped in two, with water spilling over the top deck. The bow of a ship can be seen in the background, which has broken off and appears above the water line. Crew members are seen wearing lifejackets as the camera spins around.
CNN has been unable to independently verify the location of the video. Ukraine has targeted Russian infrastructure in or near Crimea, a territory it is seeking to recapture after it was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, but there is no suggestion that the incidents are conflict-related.
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