An emergency response team has been deployed to the Krasnodar region in southern Russia as an oil spill in the Kerch Strait, originating from two tankers affected by a storm, continues to worsen. This situation has persisted for a month, prompting the urgent intervention of officials. The task force, which includes Minister of Emergency Situations Alexander Kurenkov, was established following directives from President Vladimir Putin, who described the spill as “one of the most serious environmental challenges we have faced in recent years.”
Kurenkov highlighted that the most critical situation has arisen near the port of Taman, where fuel oil continues to leak from the damaged Volgoneft-239 tanker. Reports indicate that efforts are underway to pump out the remaining oil from the vessel. The Ministry of Emergencies announced that over 155,000 tons of polluted sand and soil have been gathered since the incident occurred approximately four weeks ago, during a storm in the Kerch Strait, a body of water separating the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula from the Krasnodar region.
In additional developments, officials in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine have reported that mazut, a dense and low-quality oil, has reached the Berdyansk Spit, located about 145 kilometers (90 miles) north of the Kerch Strait. This contamination has affected an area measuring approximately 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) long, according to Yevgeny Balitsky, the governor appointed by Russia, who shared updates on Telegram.
Similar announcements came from Crimean authorities who declared a regional emergency after oil was found along the shores of Sevastopol, the largest city on the peninsula, situated around 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the site of the spill. In reaction to President Putin’s push for a response, Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, criticized Russia for only beginning to address the issue when the disaster’s magnitude became undeniable.
Tykhyi remarked, “Russia’s tendency to initially overlook a crisis, followed by acknowledging its inability to manage it, ultimately leaving the Black Sea region to cope with the fallout, exemplifies its lack of responsibility on the international stage.” The Kerch Strait serves as a vital global shipping route linking the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea and has been a flashpoint of discord between Russia and Ukraine since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
In the past, Ukraine has pursued legal action against Russia at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, accusing it of unlawfully attempting to assert control over the area. The strait experienced closures imposed by Russia for several months in 2021. Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, characterized the recent oil spill as a “large-scale environmental disaster” and has called for heightened sanctions on Russian tankers to address the ongoing crisis.
