Russia is continuing its extensive clean-up operation in the Black Sea’s Kerch Strait, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, following the oil spill caused by two storm-stricken Russian tankers last December.
The spill, which released at least 3,700 tonnes of fuel oil, occurred in mid-December.
The Kerch Strait, which separates the Russian-occupied Crimea Peninsula from mainland Russia, is a vital global shipping route, linking the inland Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. It has also become a significant point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine since Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014.
The incident occurred when the Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 oil tankers were caught in a storm, breaking one in half and sinking, killing one crew member, while the other ran aground and began leaking oil.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations reports that over 418.7 kilometres of coastline have been cleared, and more than 154,300 tonnes of contaminated sand and soil have been removed. An estimated €913 million has been spent on the ongoing clean-up effort, according to the Russian government environmental watchdog Rospotrebnadzor.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the oil spill an “ecological disaster."
Meanwhile, Viktor Danilov-Danilyan, a senior Russian scientist, described the spill to Russian media as one of the country's worst "environmental catastrophes" of the 21st century.
In December, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Head of the Office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, described the oil spill as a “large-scale environmental disaster” and called for additional sanctions on Russian tankers.
