The Russian authorities reported on Saturday a situation « critique » due to the oil spill caused by the sinking in mid-December of oil tankers between Russia and annexed Crimea, which declared a state of emergency. “The situation is really critical. Unfortunately, negative ecological consequences are inevitable”declared Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies.
He called on government authorities to “maximum efforts” to deal with the consequences of the spill of thousands of tonnes of fuel oil, particularly on the beaches of south-west Russia. “Unfortunately, it is impossible to calculate at the moment the extent of the damage caused to the environment, but specialists regularly carry out this work”added Mr. Peskov.
The governor of Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed in 2014 by Russia, Sergei Aksionov, announced on Telegram that he had declared a state of emergency “due to the spill of oil products in the Kerch Strait”which connects the two territories.
The Russian Transport Ministry wanted to be reassuring, announcing on Saturday morning that “all areas of pollution identified in the aquatic area have been cleaned” and that“no repeated pollution was detected”. “The threat of a new fuel oil leak in the Black Sea from sunken tankers and their dumping on the shore persists”however, qualified the Minister of Emergency Situations, Alexander Kourenkov.
On December 15, two Russian tankers, the Volgoneft-212 and the Volgoneft-239ran aground during a storm in the Kerch Strait. The ships were carrying 9,200 tonnes of fuel oil, around 40% of which may have spilled into the sea, according to Russian authorities.
Thousands of volunteers have mobilized to clean the beaches of southwest Russia, a tourist region which has seen its sand stained with sticky fuel oil. But, according to scientists, their equipment is not sufficient. Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged last week that it was a “ecological disaster”the volume of polluted soil could reach 200,000 tonnes.
