Two Russian oil tankers were seriously damaged in the Black Sea, causing an oil spill, authorities in Russia have said.

Photos released by Russia's Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office showed the bow of one tanker completely destroyed, with streams of oil visible in the water.

It is believed that the two tanks moved before they went ashore off the coast. At least one crew member was reported killed.

The incident took place in the Kerch Strait, which separates Russia from Crimea - the Ukrainian peninsula that was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.

In a rescue operation involving tugboats, helicopters and more than 50 workers, 13 crew members were rescued from one tanker, before they were stopped due to bad weather.

The 14 remaining crew members on board the second tanker are said to have "everything necessary for immediate life support" but are likely to be stranded until recovery the situation.

President Vladimir Putin has ordered the establishment of a working group to deal with what happened, led by Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Savelyev - and authorities are investigating for criminal negligence.

Michelle Bockmann, an analyst at the shipping industry magazine Lloyd's List, told the BBC that the two ships are owned by the Volgatanker company and that they were relatively small.

They had been carrying about 4,300 tons of deadweight oil each, according to Russian officials quoted by the Tass news agency.

A tanker used for the international trade of Russian crude oil has a much larger carrying capacity of about 120,000 deadweight tons, Bockmann said, making it likely that these tankers were used for oil to be transported through Russian rivers or in coastal waters.

The Kerch Strait is a major route for the export of Russian grain and is also used for the export of crude oil, fuel oil and liquefied natural gas.

In 2007, another oil tanker - Volgoneft-139 - split in half in a storm while anchored off the Kerch Strait, spilling more than 1,000 tons of oil.

Russian oil imports have been heavily sanctioned by Ukraine's allies since the Kremlin ordered a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

In recent years, Russia has been accused of using a ghost fleet of tankers, often poorly maintained and not properly insured, to circumvent oil sanctions and moved - although Bockmann said it was unlikely the tankers involved in Sunday's incident. part of that fleet.

Additional reporting by Joshua Cheetham