Russia has issued a warning about significant environmental harm due to a large oil spill in the Black Sea.
As per The Guardian, the spill occurred after two tankers were struck by a storm near Crimea.
As a result, Crimea has declared a state of emergency to address the situation.
Two Russian tankers in the Black Sea have sustained significant damage on Sunday, December 15, due to bad weather.
Each of the two tankers has the capacity of carrying around 4,200 tonnes of oil products.
As per the local media outlets, the 136-meter Volgoneft 212 tanker, was carrying a crew of 13 and was carrying around 4,300 tonnes of fuel oil.
Meanwhile, the 132-meter-long Volgoneft 239 was carrying a crew of 14 people and has a capacity to carry around 4,200 tonnes of oil.
Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov said, “The situation is truly critical. It is unfortunately impossible to calculate for the moment the extent of the environmental damage, but specialists are working regularly on it,” he said.
The Sergei Aksionov, who is the governor of Crimea appointed by Moscow stated on Telegram that he declared a state of emergency because of an oil spill in the Kerch Strait.
Russia’s transport ministry said on Saturday that “all polluted aquatic areas that have been identified have been cleaned” and “no recurring pollution has been detected.”
Vladimir Putin earlier described the oil spill as an “ecological disaster.”
