CNN
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Volunteers helping clean up an oil spill on Russia’s Black Sea coast are appealing to Russian President Vladimir Putin for more help as they grapple with environmental damage along more than 55 miles of coastline.
Two Russian tankers carrying thousands of tons of fuel were seriously injured in rough weather near the Black Sea earlier this month, leading to an oil spill, Russian state media said. The tanker was carrying more than 9,000 tonnes of oil, much of which spilled into the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and annexed Crimea, TASS said.
President Putin last week labeled the spill an “environmental disaster.”
According to Greenpeace Ukraine, at least 3,700 tonnes of heavy oil was spilled, but the actual amount may be much higher. Video from the scene showed blackened waves washing heavy oil known as Mazut onto the rocky shore. One video showed a bird with thick, oily wings cries in pain as it was hit by waves and unable to lift its wings and fly away.
Volunteers said in a video message to Russia’s president and prime minister on Tuesday that local authorities in Russia’s Krasnodar region have no means to clean up the oil spill.
“Local authorities are unable to respond, they don’t have the resources to do so. The only resource is ordinary people with shovels, and you can’t beat a disaster like this with a shovel!” one volunteer said in the video, adding that federal resources and He said he had requested that experts be sent to the area. They also warned that the scale of the contamination would have international implications and appealed for foreign experts to be sent.
“Recently it was announced that 5,000 volunteers and rescue workers are working to eliminate the damage. We believe that it cannot be saved,” the volunteer added.
On Thursday, President Putin suggested that the ship’s captain was to blame for the incident. “Why am I saying this is a disaster and a catastrophe? Because almost 40% of the fuel is leaking,” he said, adding that efforts to recover the ship were hampered by ongoing storms. Ta.
Russia’s Investigative Committee plans to file criminal charges in the case, Russian state media TASS reported.
