On December 15th, two tankers sank in a storm that affected the Kerch Strait, which separates the Crimean Peninsula and Russia’s Krasnodar region.having released 2,400 tons of fuel.
The oil spill that occurred three weeks ago in the Black Sea, near the Crimean Peninsula, occupied by Russia, caused the death of 32 dolphins, an animal rescue group announced this Sunday.
The oil tankers ‘Volgoneft-212’ and ‘Volgoneft-239’ sank on December 15 in a storm that affected the Kerch Strait, which separates the Crimean Peninsula and the Russian region of Krasnodar.
The ships reportedly released 2,400 tons of fuel and the Kerch and Krasnodar regions immediately declared an emergency.
According to Russia’s Delfa Dolphin Research and Rescue Center, in a message posted on the Telegram platform, 61 dead cetaceans (whales and dolphins) were found, but of these 29 had died before the spill and the remaining 32 after.
“Judging by the condition of the bodies, most likely most of these cetaceans died in the first 10 days after the disaster. Now the sea continues to wash them away,” the message says, adding that most of the dead dolphins belonged to the endangered Azov species .
The Russian Emergency Ministry said more than 96,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil had been removed by authorities and volunteers along the coast of Anapa and Temryuk districts in the Krasnodar region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the oil spill an “ecological disaster.”
The Kerch Strait is an important global shipping route, providing inland passage from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
It was also a key point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine, after Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014.
