Tons of fuel oil washed ashore in Crimea due to storm

After a powerful storm in occupied Kerch, the coast from the city beach to the spit was covered with a layer of fuel oil.

This was reported by the Crimean Wind monitoring group.

According to analysts, the pollution has been going on for several days, and despite the fact that local residents noticed the first spots of fuel oil over the weekend, the occupation administration is not taking any measures to eliminate the consequences. Moreover, the occupation authorities officially state that 'no new emissions have been recorded in the Kerch Strait', directly denying the obvious facts.

The scale of the disaster is confirmed by satellite images, which revealed several large fuel oil slicks. The largest of them are 5.9 and 6.4 kilometers long and cover an area of 0.75 and 1.07 square kilometers, respectively. The coast is covered with dark spots, fuel oil is washing up on the shore along with algae, and the worst part is that a bird has already been found completely covered in oil waste.

This indicates direct damage to wildlife. Fuel oil spills can cause hundreds of birds to die due to poisoning or loss of thermal insulation, and the consequences for the ecosystem can last for decades.

As a reminder, after the Volgoneft tanker accident in the Black Sea, the pollution from fuel oil emissions continues to spread, causing significant damage to the ecosystem. By mid-January, fuel oil slicks may reach the Gulf of Odesa.

According to Vladyslav Balinsky, an ecologist and head of the Green Sheet NGO, experts were able to predict the areas that would be the first to be contaminated a day after the accident. In particular, this applies to the coast of the Taman Peninsula, Bugazsky Spit and Anapa. Subsequently, the pollution reached the Kerch Peninsula and the southern coast of Crimea, as confirmed by data from Crimean publics and satellite images.

The fuel oil continues to leak without any attempt to localize it or remove the wreckage, which greatly complicates the situation. The main danger is that the fuel oil has sank into the water column and to the bottom, which poses a serious problem for years to come.

Катерина Глушко