It was on Sunday that two older Russian oil tankers got into distress in the Kerch Strait outside the annexed Crimean Peninsula. One of the vessels broke apart and sank, while the other ran aground. One person from the crew is reported to have died, and 26 were rescued.
According to the Russian state-controlled news agency Tass, the vessels had a combined cargo of 9,200 tons of oil.
"Anapa is in a state of emergency due to the oil spill", writes the local mayor on Telegram, adding that "an operation to eliminate the consequences is underway".
The city of Anapa is located in the southern Krasnodar region, near the Crimean Peninsula, and has a population of around 90,000 people. At least 30 kilometers of the coastline are reported to have been affected by the oil spill.
A spokesperson for Ukraine's navy, Dmytro Pletenchuk, says that the spills are Russia's responsibility since they use old and unsafe oil tankers. The vessel that sank was built in 1969, and the other in 1972. According to him, the vessels are actually intended for river transportation.
On Tuesday, reports emerged from the news agency Tass that distress signals had been sent out from another Russian oil tanker in the Black Sea. No further information about the incident has been provided, but according to the Telegram channel Baza, the vessel belongs to the same type as the other two.
