Russia-appointed officials in Moscow-occupied Crimea announced a regional emergency on Saturday, as oil was detected on the shores of Sevastopol, the peninsula’s largest city.
Fuel oil spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers nearly three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, close to eastern Crimea – some 250 kilometres (155 miles) from Sevastopol, which lies on the southwest of the peninsula.
“Today a regional emergency regime has been declared in Sevastopol,” regional Gov. Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote on Telegram.
Oil was found on four beaches in the region and was “promptly eliminated” by local authorities working together with volunteers, Razvozhaev said.
“Let me emphasise: there is no mass pollution of the coastline in Sevastopol,” he wrote.
Razvozhaev’s announcement came after authorities in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region announced a region-wide emergency last week, as the fuel oil continued washing up on the coastline 10 days after one tanker ran aground and the other was left damaged and adrift on December 15.
