Russian authorities reported on Saturday a “critical” situation due to the oil spill caused by the mid-December sinking of oil tankers between Russia and annexed Crimea, which has declared a state of emergency.
“The situation is really critical. Unfortunately, negative consequences in terms of ecology are inevitable,” declared Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies.
He called on government authorities to make “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 Dmitry Peskov.
The leader 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 petroleum products in the Kerch Strait”, which connects the two territories.
The Russian Ministry of Transport was reassuring, announcing on Saturday morning that “all areas of pollution identified in the aquatic area have been cleaned” and that “no repeated pollution has been detected”. “The threat of a new fuel oil leak in the Black Sea due to sunken tankers and their spilling on the shore persists,” however, nuanced the Minister of Emergency Situations, Alexander Kourenkov.
On December 15, two Russian tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, ran 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.
President Vladimir Putin recognized last week that it was an “ecological disaster”, which could pollute up to 200,000 tonnes of soil.
