Russia has declared a federal state of emergency over an oil spill in the Black Sea, which arrived here after an oil tanker “split in two” in a fierce winter storm.
The head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, Alexander Kurenkov, made the call after a safety meeting on Wednesday, the ministry Telegram channel said on Thursday.
Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Transport Ministry, email, for comment.
The oil spill took place in the Kerch Strait, which separates Russia from Crimea. The region was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014 and has served as logistics hub for its forces since President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The Russian oil tanker Volgoneft 212, carrying more than 4,000 tons of fuel, broke apart off the coast of Crimea on December 15.
Video footage showed the ship half submerged as it sank in the rough waves. The Russian government introduced an aircraft rescue project to save the crew on board, but one user was killed in the sinking.
Two other ships experienced difficulties along the Volgoneft 212, which broke with the storm. A second ship, the Volgoneft 239, was damaged, while a third oil tanker, the Volgoneft 109, remained intact, according to the Russian media. The crews of both ships were rescued.
All three ships were over 50 years old, according to trade outlet Ports Europe.
According to reports, volunteers who take components in cleaning the oil spill on the Russian Black Sea coast have asked Putin to supply more help.
Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said he asked for a federal state of emergency to be declared because his region “has enough resources for this work. “
Although an emergency state has already been declared in two municipalities in Krasnodar Krai, a territory in southwest Russia, the new state of emergency will allow a federal response, which more resources and investments
The head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, Alexander Kurenkov, said on Thursday: “Taking into account the current scenario and the reports we have heard, I propose to classify the emergency scenario caused by the oil tanker in the Kerch Strait as a federal emergency and a federal response point.
Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said: “We have declared a regional emergency regime since December 25 and allocated 1. 2 billion rubles [just over $11 million] from the reserve fund. We have systematically approached the cleaning beach, the emissions continue.
“Therefore, it is vital to prevent the challenge at sea, then there will be much less paint on land. This cannot be done with regional forces. Another vital factor is elimination. Thousands of tons of fuel with sand are in the transient garage areas. We can’t stay there for long.
“Given the possible new emissions, it will not be enough with the strength of the specialized companies of the region, which treat the land and already work at the limit of their capacity. I thank Alexander Vyacheslavich Kurenkov the decision to introduce a federal emergency regime. “
Kounkov said Thursday that only 15 % of the works on the contaminants of the Los Angeles Mer Noire coast had been carried out.
Now that a federal state of emergency has been declared, the Russian state budget will be allocated to clean-up and response tasks.
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Jordan King is a Newsweek reporter based in London, United Kingdom. It focuses on human interest stories in Africa and the Middle East. She has extensively covered the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, police brutality and poverty in South Africa, and gender issues. founded violence throughout the world. Jordan joined Newsweek in 2024 from The Evening Standard and previously worked at Metro. co. uk. He graduated from Kingston University and also worked in documentaries. You can contact Jordan by sending an email. j. king@newsweek. com. Languages: English.