New Oil Slicks Discovered in Southern Russia Two Months After Black Sea Catastrophe

New oil spills have surfaced along the southern coast of Russia, as reported by regional officials on Tuesday, two months following a significant incident in the Black Sea.

Emergency teams detected fuel oil traces at 11 out of 41 cleanup locations along the coast of the southern Krasnodar region, according to the area’s crisis management center. Authorities in Crimea, which has been annexed by Russia, also reported discovering similar oil pollution in recent days along their shores.

On Monday, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations announced that crews and volunteers had removed 148,000 metric tons of contaminated sand from the affected beach areas.

The spill took place on December 15 when two aging Russian tankers were compromised by a storm near Krasnodar’s coastline, leading to the release of thousands of tons of heavy fuel oil into the water. Since that incident, numerous volunteers and emergency personnel have been engaged in cleanup operations.

Russia’s environmental oversight agency has warned that it may take legal action against those accountable for the incident. The tankers were managed by Volgatransneft, and the fuel oil aboard them was owned by the state oil company, Rosneft.

Environment Minister Alexander Kozlov informed President Vladimir Putin last month that cleanup operations would continue at least until the summer of 2026.

Both Putin and Russian scientists have labeled the spill as one of the most severe environmental catastrophes in the country in recent decades. Environmental organizations have reported widespread mortality among marine life and seabirds, cautioning that up to 10 million additional birds are still at risk.

The disaster has also created uncertainty for this summer’s tourism season, with interest in vacations declining in the popular Black Sea resort of Anapa. Nonetheless, Russian authorities have organized spring and summer holiday programs in affected resort regions for children with disabilities.