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By Sergei Pivovarov
VITYAZEVO, Russia (Reuters) – Volunteers struggled on Friday to shovel tons of sticky oil off Russia’s Black Sea coast following what President Vladimir Putin has called an ecological disaster.
Oil spilled from two old Russian tankers that were severely damaged by a weekend storm in the Kerch Strait, which separates southern Russia from Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. One of the vessels split open. half and one crew member died. , while the other ran aground.
At the seashore, volunteers poured oil and blackened sand into white bags to be carried away on trucks, while the more viscous black tar drifted with the waves.
“I have never seen anything like this. I can’t even imagine it. It seems to me that nature will be affected for many decades,” said one of the volunteers, a woman who identified herself as Tatiana. .
“Even when you remove the top layer of sand, you step on it and fall, because there is still fuel oil under the sand.”
Volunteers have created a rescue center for affected seabirds, such as cormorants, which flapped their wings in distress while they cleaned oil from their plumage and used syringes to feed them. The center’s director, Evgeniy Vitishko, said about 500 birds were treated, but more than 30 died.
The Kerch Strait is a route for Russian grain and fuel exports. The two ships were carrying a total of about 9,200 metric tons (62,000 barrels) of petroleum products, of which an estimated 40% leaked into the sea.
On Thursday, one of the ships’ captains was placed in investigative custody for two months and the other under house arrest, both on suspicion of violating maritime safety regulations.
The disaster occurred in an area that provides important habitat for seabirds and dolphins. Among the worst affected places is Anapa, a popular tourist resort known for its golden sand beaches.
State news agency TASS said the contaminated area included more than 45 hectares of a protected nature reserve.
It cited the Emergency Ministry as saying that 6,000 rescuers and volunteers were participating in cleanup efforts and more than 3,300 tons of contaminated sand and soil had been collected.
