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By Maya Mehrara
News Reporter
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Speaking to the Russian news outlet Kommersant, Viktor Danilov-Danilyan, a scientific director at the Russian Academy of Sciences, deemed an oil spill in the Black Sea to be the "worst ecological disaster of the 21st century."
Cleaning up the damage from the spill in Crimea's Kerch Strait could cost Russia $14 billion, according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, by Svitlana Grynchunk, the Ukrainian Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for comment via email outside of business hours.
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Why It Matters
Moscow is facing an impending economic crisis, with soaring inflation and billions being spent on the war with Ukraine, which could trigger a recession. Cleaning up the oil spill will further drain scarce resources.
What To Know
The spill was precipitated by a tanker splitting in half during a winter storm on December 15. The Russian oil tanker Volgoneft 212, which was carrying more than 4,000 tons of fuel, broke apart off the coast of Crimea. Of the 13 people on board the ship when it sunk, one was killed. Another tanker, the Volgoneft 239, ran aground near the port of Taman on the east side of the strait on the same day and also leaked oil. Both ships were more than 50 years old.
Oil has been detected on the shores of Sevastopol, approximately 155 miles from the Kerch Strait and 96,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil have been removed by officials and volunteers from the shoreline of Russia's Krasnodar region.
The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine noted that Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria had agreed on "joint steps to interact with international institutions" to help deal with the consequences of the oil spill. The effects of the spill extend beyond Crimea, and it could reach Odesa in Ukraine by the end of January and spread as far as the shores of Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey because of sea currents and winds.
Danilov-Danilyan said the oil spill was unprecedented and could have been avoided, highlighting the ages of the ships involved saying "it was not worth using vessels that should have been written off as unsuitable 20 years ago."
He noted that the oil spill will cause enormous losses for the tourism industry as well as a host of "huge expenses associated with a range of necessary works."
What People Are Saying
Svitlana Grynchunk said: "We continue our observations, prepare an appeal to the European Commission and await a tough reaction from the world community. This is not the first similar situation with Russian tankers. The Russian Federation ignores international maritime law. So ignoring this accident now means allowing it to happen again in the future."
Mamedov Gunduz, the former Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine, wrote on X: "$14 billion in damages – that's the estimated cost of the Russian oil spill in the Black Sea, acc. to @mindovkillya. Fuel oil from two sunken tankers in the Kerch Strait has polluted thousands of kilometers of coastline, killing numerous seabirds and dolphins. Ukraine has called on the @UN, @UNEP, @UNESCO, #EU, and @IMOHQ for urgent action. At the same time, the dialogue on holding individuals accountable for #EnvironmentalCrimes and #Ecocide as a distinct category of #InternationalCrimes must continue."
What Happens Next
Ukraine and other global powers will likely have to commit funds alongside Russia to clean up the damage from the Kerch Strait oil spill.
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