Russian authorities warned on Wednesday of serious environmental damagewhile thousands of people went out to clean up tons of fuel oil spilled by two oil tankers affected by storms more than two weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, near Crimea, occupied by Moscow.
More than 10,000 people, mostly volunteers, rushed to rescue wildlife and remove tons of sand saturated with mazut, a heavy, low-quality petroleum product, according to Russian news reports.
Authorities in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia announced a region-wide emergency last week as fuel oil continued to wash up on the coast 10 days after one oil tanker ran aground and the other was damaged. already adrift on December 15.
The measure was taken days after the Russian president, Vladimir Putindescribed the oil spill as an “ecological disaster.”
On Wednesday, New Year’s Day, Krasnodar officials said oil continued to wash up on the beaches of Anapa, a popular local resort.
More than 71,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil had been removed along 35 miles of the coast since the original spill, Russia’s emergencies ministry reported Wednesday morning.
On December 23, the ministry estimated that up to 200,000 tons in total could have been contaminated.
Some Russian media outlets critical of the Kremlin cited Russian volunteers as saying that state support has been inadequate to deal with the fallout from the spill. Some reported suffering headaches, nausea and vomiting after spending hours inhaling toxic fumes, and complained that protective equipment and measures are insufficient.
Others called for international specialists to be sent, citing the magnitude of the spill and the likely extent of the impact.
In photos circulating on social networks and local news channels Sea birds covered in black fuel oil appear.
The spill could have caused the death of more than 20 dolphinssaid the local Delfa dolphin rescue center, adding that tests are already being carried out to determine the cause of the deaths.
The Kerch Strait separates Russia the Crimean peninsula, occupied by Moscow, and is a major global transit route providing a passage from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
It has also been a key point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine after Moscow annexed it in 2014. In 2016, Ukraine took Russia to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where it accused it of trying to illegally take control of the area. In 2021, Russia closed the strait for several months.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Volodymyr Zelensky, described the oil spill last month as a “large-scale environmental disaster” and called for additional sanctions against Russian oil tankers.