Already ravaged by the war in Ukraine, the Black Sea is seeing tons of fuel oil spilling into its waters and onto its beaches. On December 15, two Russian tankers, loaded with 9,200 tons of fuel oil, were shipwrecked in the Kerch Strait, which separates Russia from Crimea and the Black Sea from the Sea of Azov, after a storm.
According to forecasts, “the volume of polluted soil could reach 200,000 tonnes,” declared Russian Minister of Natural Resources, Alexander Kozlov, during a meeting, a video extract of which was broadcast by the Zvezda channel on Telegram. Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized Thursday that this oil spill was an “ecological disaster”
Seaside resort affected and volunteers mobilized
Black fuel oil was deposited on dozens of kilometers of beaches in the Krasnodar region, in southwest Russia. The seaside resort of Anapa, popular with tourists, was particularly affected. The port city of Kerch, in annexed Crimea, also saw blocks of fuel oil arriving on its shores, according to images released by the authorities.
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Volunteers, in white protective gear, were working to rid the beaches of the Krasnodar region of viscous clumps of fuel oil carried by the current, according to images published Monday by the governor. But so that their work is not “in vain”, it will be necessary to work as quickly as possible at sea, “where the source of the pollution is”, indicated Governor Veniamine Kondratiev on Telegram. “The volunteers said that last night almost everything was cleaned up, but overnight the waves deposited oil again,” he said.
Oiled birds, deceased dolphins
The authorities also released images of birds stained with fuel oil, being treated by volunteers. Ten dolphins could also have been killed by the oil spill, the specialized Delpha center estimated on Sunday, specifying that analyzes were necessary to confirm the cause of their death.
“This is an extremely alarming situation,” this scientific institution which protects dolphins in the Black Sea warned on Telegram.
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