Russian officials warned of serious environmental damage on Wednesday as thousands of people turned out to clean up tons of fuel oil spilled from two tankers that were caught in a storm more than two weeks ago in the Straits. Kerch, near the Crimea in which Moscow was located.
Over 10,000 people, mostly volunteers, raced to save and remove wildlife tons of sand saturated with mazutheavy, low-quality oil production, according to Russian news reports.
Authorities in Russia's southern Krasnodar region last week declared a region-wide emergency, as the fuel oil continued to wash up on the coast 10 days later. one tanker went ashore and the other was left damaged and frustrated on December 15.
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The move came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin called the oil spill an “ecological disaster.”
On Wednesday, New Year's Day, Krasnodar officials said that the oil kept appearing on the beaches of Anapa, a popular tourist town.
More than 71,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil have been removed along 56 kilometers (35 miles) of coastline since the first spill, Russia's emergency ministry said Wednesday morning.
On December 23, the ministry estimated that a total of up to 200,000 tons could be contaminated.
Some Russian media that criticized the Kremlin said that Russian volunteers say that state aid has not been adequate because they are dealing with the consequences of the spill. Some reported experiencing headaches, nausea and vomiting after spending hours inhaling toxic fumes, and complained about insufficient equipment and protective measures.
Others called for international experts to be sent in, citing the size of the spill and the extent of the potential impact.
Pictures circulating on social media and local news channels showed seabirds covered in black fuel oil.
The spill may have killed more than 20 dolphins, the local dolphin rescue center Delfa said, adding that tests were underway to determine the cause of death.
The Kerch Strait separates the Russian-held peninsula of Crimea from Russia and is an important global shipping lane, providing access from the inner Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
It has also been a major point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine after Moscow attached to the peninsula in 2014. In 2016, Ukraine took Moscow to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where it accused Russia of illegally trying to control the region. In 2021, Russia closed the strait for several months.
Last month, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff, described the oil spill as an “environmental disaster” and called for additional sanctions on Russian tankers .
