December 25, 2024

Cleaning up Kerch Strait Oil Spill


Cleaning up Kerch Strait Oil Spill
Tanker Volgoneft-212 in 2018. Alexxx1979, Wikimedia Commons.

Two ships, the Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, sank on December 15 in the Kerch Strait following a storm. Emergency services said the tankers carried about 9,200 tons of fuel oil, resulting in an oil spill that contaminated miles of shoreline and killed at least 11 dolphins and 125 birds.

Three hours after the incident, authorities began declaring states of emergency in local municipalities affected by the spill. By the end of that hour, emergency declarations were in place in seven populated areas, including the resort town of Anapa.

Emergency personnel from the regional Kuban-SPAS team and the Russian Emergencies Ministry arrived to collect oil along the Black Sea coast. A total of 267 people and 50 equipment units were deployed. On Saturday, December 21, the Russian Emergencies Ministry reported that 34 of the 54 kilometers (22 of the 33 miles) of affected coastline had been cleared, and 12,000 tons of contaminated sand had been collected.

However, according to the independent publication Agentstvo, it was not the emergency personnel, but volunteers who did the most work. They used shovels and scoops to handle the cleanup instead of bulldozers. Due to a lack of equipment, the filled bags were not always removed promptly and may have leaked oil back onto the sand.

A week after the sinking, authorities had yet to begin pumping out the remaining oil from the tankers, said Yevgeny Simonov, an ecologist and member of the international Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Work Group. He noted that weather conditions would have allowed pumping operations to start, but no information on such work has been released. One tanker is aground near the coast, which Simonov said could make pumping the oil easier.

Satellite images taken Friday showed one of two oil slicks located not far from the shore near Anapa, covering an area of about 100 square kilometers (38 square miles). Ecologists from the Prozrachny Mir na Kaspy (Transparent World on the Caspian) project said the wind’s direction raises the likelihood of renewed coastal pollution near Anapa and possible new contamination in Crimea and Taman.

Russian officials have not yet issued an official estimate of the total damage. Ecologist Grigory Kavanovsyan said the spill’s impact could cost anywhere from R30 billion to R50 billion ($300 million to $500 million).

You Might Also Like

A Memory Battle, Won
  • December 22, 2024

A Memory Battle, Won

A statue to the founder of the Soviet secret police has been erected in Khabarovsk.
Ghost of Economy Future
  • December 15, 2024

Ghost of Economy Future

Russian analysts give their forecasts for what the economy might look like in early 2025.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955