Oil spill off Crimea shores leads to intensive cleanup efforts

SIMFEROPOL, Crimea: Efforts to clean up the Kerch Strait near Russian-occupied Crimea intensified a week after at least 3,700 tons of low-grade fuel oil spilled from two Russian tankers damaged during a storm.

Russian media reported that more than 7,500 people, many of them volunteers, worked to rescue wildlife and clean oil-contaminated shorelines. By December 22 afternoon, more than 12,000 tons of polluted soil had been removed from 21 miles of coastline, according to Russia's Tass news agency.

Despite these efforts, oil continued to wash up along Crimea's shores. The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry had previously announced that cleanup operations off the peninsula, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, were complete.

The spill's environmental impact is still being assessed. Tatyana Beley, a local scientist, reported that her team found 11 dolphins dead from oil-clogged airways.

The disaster began on December 15 when the Volgoneft-212 tanker ran aground in stormy conditions, tearing its bow apart. One sailor from the 13-man crew died. Another tanker, the Volgoneft-239, was also damaged and later ran aground near Taman port in Russia's Krasnodar region, where all 14 crew members were rescued.

Greenpeace Ukraine said the spill has affected at least 37 miles of coastline. The organization, banned from Russia in 2023 as an "undesirable organization," has condemned the spill's response.

Russian volunteers cited in independent media and Western outlets criticized the state's inadequate support. Some reported nausea, headaches, and vomiting after hours of exposure to toxic fumes during cleanup efforts.

The Kerch Strait, separating Crimea from mainland Russia, is a vital global shipping route linking the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. It has also been a point of contention between Russia and Ukraine since Moscow annexed Crimea.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called the spill a "large-scale environmental disaster" of the war, urging additional sanctions on Russian tankers.