Russia: Oil Spill from the Sinking of Two Tankers Continues to Spread

The oil spill that has been impacting southwestern Russia since mid-December, following the sinking of two tankers, continues to spread, with pollution now detected on additional beaches, authorities announced on Thursday.

On December 15, two Russian tankers, the Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, ran aground during a storm in the Kerch Strait. These vessels were carrying 9,200 tons of fuel oil, of which approximately 40% may have leaked into the sea.

Authorities and volunteers have initiated a large-scale cleanup operation; however, concerns about the situation remain high.

Since the beginning of the oil spill, nearly 73,000 tons of contaminated sand have been removed from dozens of kilometers of beach along the Russian coast. Officials estimate that around 200,000 tons of soil may have been affected overall.

President Vladimir Putin acknowledged last month that this constitutes an “ecological disaster,” and his spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, indicated that the full extent of the environmental damage is “impossible to calculate at this time.”