Puddles of Oil Wash Ashore in Krasnodar Region After Russian Tankers Oil Spill

Patches of oil started washing ashore along southern Russia's Black Sea coast two days after two aging Russian-flagged tankers were damaged in the sea, regional authorities reported on December 17.

Videos circulating on social media showed oil stains covering beaches in and around the resort city of Anapa, Krasnodar region, Russia. Some clips also depicted birds coated in oil, struggling to take flight.

“Oil products were washed ashore across several dozen kilometers,” Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of southern Russia’s Krasnodar region, wrote on Telegram.

Natalia Gozak, director of Greenpeace Ukraine, drew comparisons to a similar incident in November 2007, when a Russian tanker broke apart during a storm, spilling around 1,300 tons of oil and other pollutants in the same region.

That spill contaminated dozens of kilometers of coastline in both Ukraine and Russia, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of birds and marine life. Gozak noted that the current spill, estimated to be nearly three times larger, could have far more devastating consequences.

Russian state media estimated that over 3,000 metric tons of oil may have spilled into the Kerch Strait, connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov after a storm on Sunday tore the Volgoneft 212 tanker in half and forced the Volgoneft 239 aground.

"The Russians have a rather complicated situation ... in the Azov and the Black Sea region. They use an outdated fleet: these ships were more than 50 years old," said Dmytro Pletenchuk, Ukrainian navy spokesperson.

On December 15, two Russian oil tankers were severely damaged in the Black Sea, and went to sea in violation of navigation regulations, resulting in an oil spill.