Russia warns of serious environmental damage after oil from damaged tanker washed up on beaches
Russian officials warned on Wednesday of serious environmental damage as thousands of people mobilized to clean up a massive fuel leak from two storm-hit tankers in the Kerch Strait near Moscow-occupied Crimea.
According to Russian news reports, more than 10,000 people, mostly volunteers, raced to rescue wildlife and remove large amounts of sand laden with mazut, a heavy, low-quality petroleum product.
Authorities in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia declared a state of emergency for the entire region last week. On December 15, one tanker ran aground and another tanker was damaged and drifted for 10 days. Fuel continued to wash up on the coastline.
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A few days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the oil spill an “ecological disaster.”
Krasnodar officials said oil was appearing on beaches in the popular local resort of Anapa on Wednesday, New Year’s Day.
Russia’s Emergencies Ministry reported on Wednesday morning that more than 71,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil had been removed along 56 kilometers (35 miles) of coastline since the initial spill.
On December 23, the ministry estimated that up to 200,000 tons in total could be contaminated.
Some Russian media critical of the Kremlin quoted Russian volunteers saying state support was insufficient as they dealt with the fallout from the leak. Some people said they suffered headaches, nausea and vomiting hours after inhaling toxic fumes and complained of inadequate equipment and protective measures.
Others have called for international experts to be called in, citing the scale of the leak and the likely extent of its impact.
Photos circulating on social media and local news channels showed the seabirds covered in black fuel.
The local Delphi Dolphin Rescue Center said the spill may have killed more than 20 dolphins, adding that tests were underway to determine the cause of the deaths.
The Kerch Strait separates the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula from Russia and is an important global shipping route, providing access from the Azov Inland Sea to the Black Sea.
It has also been a focus of conflict between Russia and Ukraine since Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014. In 2021, Russia closed the strait for several months.
Mikhailo Podolyak, chief adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, last month described the oil spill as a “massive environmental disaster” and called for further sanctions on Russian tankers.
