Authorities have declared a federal emergency in connection with the fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait, the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported on December 26.
Alexander Kurenkov, the head of Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, described the situation in Krasnodar Krai as "manageable."
On December 25, Krasnodar Krai authorities introduced a regional emergency regime after discovering new accumulations of fuel oil washed ashore.
Three days earlier, volunteers cleaning the coastline had appealed to Vladimir Putin, requesting additional equipment and rescuers from other regions. A petition with a similar demand has gathered 106,000 signatures.
Two tankers sank in the Kerch Strait during a storm on December 15, reportedly spilling about 4,000 tons of oil into the Black Sea. The oil pollution spread across several dozen kilometers of shoreline, from Veselovka in the Temryuksky District to Blagoveshchenskaya in Anapa.
By December 25, 244 birds had died, while volunteers managed to save 1,244 others. Reports also confirmed the deaths of at least two Azov dolphins due to the spill.
