KRASNODAR, December 26. /TASS/. The coastal zone, where leaked petroleum products may be washed ashore following the recent shipwreck in southern Russia, has been expanded to 220 km in total, the Krasondar Region’s crisis response center wrote on Telegram.

"As of December 25, a total of 4,100 people have been taking part in the cleanup effort. The length of the monitoring zone on the Krasnodar Region’s coast has been expanded to 220 km in total. Almost 20,000 tons of polluted sand and soil have been removed for disposal," the center said.

Previously, around 160 kilometers of the coastline have been under constant monitoring for potential oil pollution.

On December 15, the Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 tankers sank in the Kerch Strait of the Black Sea during a storm. One sailor lost his life, while the others were successfully evacuated. Emergency services confirmed that the tankers were carrying about 9,200 tons of fuel oil, resulting in an oil spill in the Black Sea. Cleanup operations are underway, with a team of over 10,000 personnel mobilized for the emergency response.

The Krasnodar Region administration reported that it would allocate 1.2 billion rubles (over $12 million at the current exchange rate) for the ongoing cleanup effort. Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Wednesday that petroleum products continue to leak from the sunken vessels.