Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Sunday, December 15, 2024, discover the latest news around this conflict
Russian tanker breaks apart, spills oil into Kerch Strait
A Russian tanker carrying thousands of tons of petroleum products broke in two on Sunday due to a strong storm, spilling oil into the Kerch Strait, while another Russian tanker was also in distress after suffering damage. damage, Russian officials said.
The ships were in the Kerch Strait, between mainland Russia and Crimea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, when they transmitted distress signals. Russian investigators have opened two criminal probes to examine possible safety violations after at least one person was killed when the Volgoneft 212, a 136-meter-long tanker with 15 people on board, sank. broken in two and its bow sank.
Images broadcast by state media showed waves crashing over the bridge. The Russian-flagged ship, built in 1969, was damaged and ran aground, authorities said. An unverified video posted on Telegram shows blackened water on rough seas and a half-submerged oil tanker. A second Russian-flagged ship built in 1973, the 132-meter-long Volgoneft 239, is adrift after suffering damage, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. It has 14 crew members.
The Kerch Strait, essential for Russian grain exports, is also used for crude oil, fuel oil and liquefied natural gas. In September, Ukraine accused Russia in an international court of flouting maritime law by trying to keep the Kerch Strait under its exclusive control, which Moscow denies.
According to emergency services, one person died and 12 others were evacuated from the first tanker. Eleven of them were taken to hospital, including two in serious condition, the TASS news agency said, citing Alexei Kuznetsov, an aide to the health minister.
The Emergency Situations Ministry said it was still in contact with the other tanker and its crew after the vessel ran aground 80m from the coast near the port of Taman, at the southern end of the Kerch Strait . The two tankers have a loading capacity of approximately 4,200 tonnes of petroleum products.
Official statements did not provide details on the scale of the oil spill or why one of the tankers suffered such extensive damage. President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to set up a task force to manage the rescue operation and mitigate the impact of the oil spill.
News agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Vladimir Putin had met with emergency situations and environment ministers. Russia said more than 50 personnel and equipment, including Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugs, had been deployed to the area. Svetlana Radionova, director of Rosprirodnadzor, Russia's natural resources watchdog, said specialists were assessing the damage on site.
Moscow claims capture of two villages in Donetsk region
Russian forces have taken control of two villages in Ukraine's Donetsk region, Veselyi Hai and Pushkino, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Sunday.
Russian forces also hit and destroyed four Patriot air defense systems, the ministry added. Reuters could not immediately verify this information.
Ukraine says it destroyed 56 Russian drones
Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 56 of 108 drones launched by Russia during an attack overnight from Saturday to Sunday, the Ukrainian Air Force announced. According to the army, 49 other drones were “lost”probably due to electronic interference. Debris from the destroyed drones damaged an unspecified piece of infrastructure, as well as residential buildings and homes, the military added.
Pope calls for peace for “the whole Middle East” and the people of Ukraine and Russia
Pope Francis on Sunday launched an appeal for “peace” for “the whole Middle East” but also “for the Ukrainian people and the Russian people”, in a speech at Ajaccio Cathedral on the Mediterranean island from Corsica.
“Peace for Palestine, for Israel, for Lebanon, for Syria, for the entire Middle East,” he pleaded, assuring that “war is always a defeat.” “Peace to the whole world,” he concluded.
