Massive waves split a Russian oil tanker in two during a fierce storm, spilling at least 2,000 metric tons of fuel into a strait leading to the Black Sea.

A SEVERE storm broke a small Russian oil tanker in two off the Ukrainian port of Kerch yesterday, spilling up to 2,000 tonnes of fuel oil in what a Russian official said was an “environmental disaster”.

Beijing tried to ease strains with Moscow over a river-borne toxic spill flowing toward Russia by today promising to send filtering materials, while five more Chinese cities prepared to stop drawing water from the river.