[#]Russia suffering '#EnvironmentalCatastrophe' after #OilSpill in #KerchStrait
Joshua Cheetham, Olga Robinson & Matt Murphy, January 23, 2025
"Satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify have shown a major oil slick spreading across the Kerch Strait that separates Russia from annexed #Crimea, a month after two oil tankers were badly damaged in the #BlackSea.
"Oil has leaked into the strait from two ships which ran into trouble during bad weather on 15 December. Volgoneft-239 ran aground following the storm, while Volgoneft-212 sank.
"Up to 5,000 tonnes of oil has now leaked, and media reports and official statements analysed by BBC Verify suggest the spill has spread across the Black Sea and the #SeaOfAzov.
"A senior Russian scientist called the spill the country's worst '#EnvironmentalCatastrophe' of the 21st Century.
"'This is the first time fuel oil has been spilled in such quantities,' Viktor Danilov-Danilyan - the head of science at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) - said in a 17 January interview with a Russian newspaper.
"Russian scientists said in December that this spill could be more than twice the size of a similar disaster in the strait in 2007, which saw up to 1,600 tonnes of #HeavyOil leak into the sea. #Ukraine's ministry of #ecology has estimated that the clear up from the latest spill could cost the Russian state up to $14bn (£11.4bn).
"#PaulJohnston, a scientist at #GreenpeaceResearchLaboratories, said 'there's always an element of uncertainty around oil spills', but a lack of timely information has heightened this uncertainty further.
"'I'm not entirely optimistic we'll ever know the full extent of the problem,' he added.
"Satellite images reviewed by #BBCVerify on 10 January - the most recent available high-resolution photos - showed a #MassiveOilSlick running through the strait, measuring at least 25km (15 miles) long. A second, smaller slick measuring around 5.7km (3.5 miles) long is also visible."
Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23ngk5vgmpo
[#]WaterIsLife #EnvironmentalDestruction #OilSpill
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