Two Russian oil tankers have been badly damaged in a storm in the Black Sea, with images and a video showing one of the vessels appearing to have broken in half and the other listing.

According to multiple media sources, citing Russian state media and sources, the incident has resulted in an oil spill, with the sunken tanker reportedly carrying more than 4,000 tonnes (t) of oil.

The vessels, Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239, were in the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and Crimea. They reportedly started getting into trouble on Sunday evening, when winds reached 45mph.

Russian state media said one of the crew members of the Volgoneft 212 had been declared dead.

The Volgoneft 239 has reportedly run aground near the port of Taman in Russia’s Krasnodar region, said Russian sources, with 14 people rescued.

The two vessels were reportedly carrying a combined 9,000t of crude oil and oil products, some of which has been seen floating in the Kerch Strait.

A clean-up operation is now being planned, said several US media sources.

With Russia under a raft of international sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine, the oil-producing nation has reportedly been sending oil to countries such as China and Turkey via illegal ship-to-ship transfers, with vessels meeting international waters.

In October, the UK also imposed more sanctions on more of Vladimir Putin’s so-called ‘shadow fleet‘.

The UK claims the fleet, which is made up of older and often uninsured ships, uses illicit practices to avoid western restrictions on Russian oil.

The UK Government sanctioned a further 18 oil tankers, as well as an additional four liquified natural gas (LNG) vessels, in a new batch of measures. The total number of vessels now under UK sanctions is 43.

In September, Greenpeace claimed the ‘shadow fleet’, consisting of outdated tankers, posed a significant risk of causing a major oil spill in the Baltic Sea.