The first ton of fuel oil was collected from the beaches of the Azov Sea

More than 1.2 tons of fuel oil fragments and algae contaminated with oil products were collected from the coast of the Azov Sea in Krasnodar region. Volunteers and rescuers were engaged in cleaning of beaches, the press service of the regional operative headquarters reports on Wednesday, January 22.

The first oiled areas were found on January 20 in the area of Kuchugury tract in Slavyansk district. The length of coastal pollution amounted to 6 km. Sixty-five people and eight units of equipment were sent to eliminate oil products.

Fuel oil is collected in bags and sent for disposal. In addition, a patrol of the water area of the coastal strip with the length of 8.5 km was organized in Slavyansky district. According to KrasnodarMedia IA, the total zone of beach monitoring in the region has been extended to 265 km.

Tankers "Volgoneft-212" and "Volgoneft-239" crashed during a strong storm in the Kerch Strait on December 15, 2024. As a result of the accident, about 40% of fuel oil leaked out of them.

Two days later, by the morning of December 17, the oil products reached the shores of Anapa and Temryuksky district, and then Crimea. On December 26, a federal emergency was declared. On January 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the fuel oil spill in the Black Sea one of the most serious environmental challenges for the country in recent years.

Earlier, Vladimir Kalyaev, head of Skoltech's development projects group, who is involved in the cleanup of the accident, told Izvestia that fuel emissions from tankers will continue in the area of the oil spill on the coast of the Black and Azov seas. A large number of oil product accumulations remain at a depth of up to 150 meters, from time to time they surface and create new pollution zones, he explained.