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State of emergency declared in two municipal districts after oil spill in Krasnodar Region

According to Sergey Shtrikov, over 30 km of coastline has been contaminated by oil

KRASNODAR, December 17. /TASS/. A state of Emergency has been declared in two municipal districts of the Krasnodar Region after a tanker spilled oil along the coast, regional Minister of civil protection and emergencies Sergey Shtrikov said on Russian TV.

"Right now, right behind me, emergency agencies and volunteers are cleaning up oil on the coastline in the settlement of Blagoveshchenskoye. The beach territory has been contaminated on the side of the Temryuk District and the Anapa municipal district. These two districts are currently under a state of emergency," Shtrikov said.

According to Shtrikov, over 30 km of coastline has been contaminated by oil. The regional anti-crisis center said that a municipal emergency has been declared in five settlements.

"The number of staff and volunteer workers has been increased to 500. We plan to hold a meeting, led by the governor," the minister added.

On December 15, the Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239 oil tankers were damaged in a storm. The Volgoneft 212’s bow was torn off, and the vessel ran aground. One of its 13 crew members was killed, and the others were evacuated. The deceased was a watch sailor, a 23-year-old native of Astrakhan. The investigative agencies have initiated two criminal cases. All 14 crew members of the Volgoneft 239 were evacuated later on December 16. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave orders on organizing rescue operations in the Kerch Strait. Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin established a working group to address the consequences of the incident.

The disaster resulted in a fuel oil leak into the Black Sea waters, the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport reported. Earlier, experts told TASS that the oil slick threatening aquatic and coastal ecosystems was drifting northward. After reaching the Kerch Strait, it began moving toward the coast of the Krasnodar Region. Later satellite images showed another group of oil slicks located to the southeast of the scene, not far from the Temryuksky district and the resort city of Anapa. Earlier it was reported that the two tankers carried a total of about 9,000 tons of oil. Satellite monitoring data indicated a spill of about 3,000 tons of the product.

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