Russia is facing a big problem after a huge oil spill in the Black Sea. This happened when two oil tankers crashed into each other during a storm near Crimea. One tanker sank, and the other got stuck on December 15 in the Kerch Strait, which is the waterway between Russia and Crimea.
Thousands of volunteers have come together to help clean up the mess, but some scientists say their efforts are not enough. The tankers carried a massive load of 9,200 tonnes of fuel oil, and officials believe that about 40% of that oil has leaked into the sea.
Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Kremlin, said that the situation is very serious. While it’s hard to know how much damage has been done to the environment right now, experts are looking into it regularly. Sergei Aksionov, the governor of Crimea, announced on Telegram that he had declared a state of emergency because of the oil spill in the Kerch Strait.
On the other hand, Russia’s transport ministry assured everyone that they have cleaned all the polluted areas and nothing dangerous is happening now. However, Alexander Kurenkov, the minister for Emergency Situations, was more careful and said there is still a risk of more oil leaking into the Black Sea from the tankers.
Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin called this oil spill an ecological disaster.
Leave a Reply