Russian Ships Collide in Black Sea During 'Storm of the Century': Video

A video circulating online appears to show the moment three Russian vessels collided in the Black Sea region during what has been dubbed the "storm of the century."

Russian Telegram channel Shot said that on Sunday night a "massive maritime accident" took place in the Kerch Strait, after the ship Matros Shevchenko collided with the vessel Matros Pozynich as it tried to sail into the open sea. The two vessels also reportedly collided with another anchored vessel Kavkaz-5. The channel released footage of their collision on Wednesday.

Russian media dubbed the weather events of November 26 to 27 as the "storm of the century." It wreaked havoc on annexed Crimea, with hurricane-force winds and 30-foot waves, leaving at least three people dead on the Russian and Crimean Black Sea coast and half a million people without power.

Videos of the storm on Telegram showed huge waves battering Crimea's coastline, causing destruction in their path. Other footage showed trees being downed by the wind.

The Kremlin-installed head of Crimea's Ministry of Emergency Situations, Sergei Sadakliev, said that as of November 28, the damage from the storm amounted to 490 million rubles ($5.5 million). Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry for comment by email.

"We are publishing the moment of a massive ship accident," Shot wrote. "Giant waves knocked three ships into one pile: 'Matros Shevchenko", 'Matros Pozynich' and 'Kavkaz-5'.

The 27-second video shows one ship being tossed onto another vessel by a wave. Shot said that 20 minutes after the collision, the vessels were able to move away from each other "to a safe distance." It added that there were no casualties.

Russian authorities also struggled to retrieve a carrier ship that became stranded in the Black Sea due to the storm, according to an audio message circulating on social media.

A Belize-flagged bulk carrier named Blue Shark ran ashore near the village of Vityazevo near Anapa in Russia's Krasnodar Territory, the country's Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport (Rosmorrechflot) reported via its Telegram channel.

The "Blue Shark has run ashore in a severe storm in the area of the Vityazevo settlement near Anapa's shore," the agency said.

Russian Telegram channel Shot released an audio message reportedly of a conversation between a Russian dispatcher and the crew of the vessel. One man can be heard saying that nothing can be done to retrieve the Blue Shark due to a lack of equipment.

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.