Russia volcano eruption blankets towns in ash, disrupts air traffic

A volcano in Russia’s far eastern region erupted early Tuesday, spewing a massive cloud of ash into the sky that blotted out the sun and smothered villages in grey volcanic dust.

The Shiveluch volcano, which is located on Russia’s northeastern Kamchatka peninsula and juts into the Pacific Ocean, erupted around 12:54 a.m. local time and was still erupting nearly 15 hours later, according to a Telegram post from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Geophysical Survey.