The oil spill spreads after the wrecks in the Strait of Kurts – a huge ecological disaster

It continues to spread or after the sinking of two Russians in the Kerch Strait and causes huge ecological disaster in Russia and Crimea. The oil spill caused after the sinking of the two tankers in mid-December in the maritime area between Russia and the annexed Crimea, continues to spread with pollution located on more shores, authorities announced today. CORVERSE On December 15, two Russian tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, sank during a storm in the Kerch Strait. The ships carried 9,200 tons of oil. 40% leaked to the sea, according to the Russian authorities. Russian authorities declared on 26 December an emergency situation at federal level, on the occasion of the oil spill. Thousands of volunteers were mobilized to address the pollution of the tourist coast of south-west Russia by fuel, but, according to scientists, their equipment is inadequate. DEPENDENCE “Two oil-infected sites identified in Crimea”, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, announced today the Russian emergency response ministry. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov These sites are located near the beach in the town of Kurts and, further south, near Lake Tometsskoye, according to the ministry. After the start of oil spilling into the sea from the sinking of tankers nearly 73,000 tons of contaminated sand have been removed from dozens of kilometres of beaches on the Russian coast, but in total, about 200,000 tons of soil may be contaminated, according to authorities. Serious problems are also recorded in marine fauna, such as seabirds, dolphins and other fish. The regional cleanup organization gave the public images of volunteers in white forms to remove contaminated sand using shovels, including in the popular tourist destination Anapa. In December, scientists at the Russian Academy of Sciences criticised the authorities’ response to environmental destruction, saying that volunteers do not have the appropriate equipment to deal with such a disaster. President Vladimir Putin acknowledged last month that the oil spill has caused a “ecological disaster” and Kremlin representative, Dmitry Peskov, stressed that the extent of environmental damage is “to date impossible to calculate.”