Fuel oil from a Russian tanker spill in the Kerch Strait has reached the Ukrainian shores of the Azov Sea. Satellite images showed an oil slick near the occupied city of Berdiansk, as reported by the Mariupol City Council.
The slick, covering 300 square kilometers, was observed in the Azov Sea. Russia had earlier reported pollution spanning over 14 kilometers along the Berdiansk coast.
“Due to the wind and current patterns, the fuel oil is expected to drift further toward Mariupol,” the statement noted.
According to the Center for Investigative Journalism, the slick was located 10 kilometers south of the Berdiansk Spit on January 11. It stretched nearly 100 kilometers along the Bilosarayska Spit. There is also concern the oil could drift westward towards the Arabat Spit.
Satellite images from Sentinel-2 showed the slick reaching the Berdiansk Spit on January 10. By the following day, authorities in the Zaporizhzhia region confirmed the spill in Berdiansk and identified a small contamination site on the Peresyp Spit. Russian reports on shoreline pollution may be understated, as seen in Crimea, with further oil spills expected in the northern Azov Sea in the near future.
The fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait occurred in mid-December when two Russian tankers were damaged in a severe storm. Initially, the oil slicks were confined to the Russian coast, but they eventually moved toward the occupied Ukrainian territories.
Greenpeace Ukraine estimates that approximately 4,300 tons of fuel oil were spilled into the sea. Russia has yet to address the environmental consequences effectively.
In addition, 13 new pollution sites have been identified in occupied Crimea, affecting the Kerch, Leninsky, Saksky, and Chornomorsky districts.
Ukrainian Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Svitlana Hrynchuk, stated that there is no immediate threat to the Odesa coast. However, the spill has already caused significant damage to marine life, killing over 15,000 birds and 30 dolphins in the Black Sea ecosystem.
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