President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that more decisive action is needed to remove the effects of the oil spill in the Black Sea. He said existing efforts are insufficient to control the ecological disaster. President Putin described the situation in the Black Sea as “one of the greatest ecological challenges we have faced in recent years,” Reuters reported.
During the government meeting, Russian leaders criticized the lack of effective coordination of actions between regional and federal authorities.
“From what I see and from the information that has been provided to me, everything that has been done to date to limit the damage is clearly inadequate,” the president said, Reuters reported. said.
President Putin called for the establishment of a special commission to work both on mitigating the effects of the current disaster and on preventing future leaks.
Oil spill in the Black Sea. massive ecological disaster
The breach occurred on December 15th. A storm damaged two old tankers in the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov and separates Crimea’s Kerch Peninsula from Russia’s Krasnodar region.
One of the tankers sank and the other ran aground.
State media said the two machines were manufactured more than 50 years ago and were carrying a total of about 9,200 tonnes (62,000 barrels) of petroleum products at the time of the accident. Last week, Russian investigators announced that around 2,400 tons of petroleum products had spilled into the sea.
Since the spill, thousands of rescuers and volunteers have continued to work to remove contaminated sand and soil from both sides of the Kerch Strait. Environmental groups have reported deaths of dolphins, porpoises and seabirds in the area.
Winter Attack on the British Isles/Agencia EFE/© 2025 Associated Press
