In Anapa, a swan hugged the volunteer who saved it from fuel oil

A swan with fuel oil on its breast hugged Larisa Shultz-Popova, a volunteer from the Aristei Center in Anapa, in gratitude. The woman, who moved from Siberia a year and a half ago, has been helping birds since the first days of the tanker crash in the Black Sea.

The footage shows a bird clinging to the volunteer while she can't hold back her tears. Shultz-Popova admitted that she had wanted to hug a swan and a dolphin all her life - one dream come true.

"I held him, as he did not hiss at me, well, and that's how I got "hugs". At the meeting, he immediately chose me, laid on my shoulder, I cried, kissed him. And when washed, I continued to cry and kiss him," she told RIA Novosti.

Shultz-Popova explained that the feathered, soiled in fuel oil, washed at home, and then brought to the center. The swan had a slight intoxication, it was washed, fed, drunk and released to walk on the farm, to rest and gain strength, soon it flew away, the volunteer added.

A day earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting on the development of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol , thanked the volunteers who are helping to eliminate the consequences of the oil spill in the Black Sea after the tanker crash. He also said that he was expecting active work from the government commission on liquidation of the consequences of pollution of the Black Sea coast.

The tankers Volgoneft-212 andVolgoneft-239crashed in the Kerch Strait on December 15, 2024 due to bad weather. The incident resulted in a spill of oil products. 27 people were evacuated from both vessels, one person died. On the instructions of the Russian President, a working group was set up to coordinate the work to eliminate the consequences of the emergency.