Overview

• Two Russian tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, sank during a storm on December 15 in the Kerch Strait, spilling approximately 40% of their 9,200-ton fuel oil cargo into the Black Sea.
• Russian authorities have described the situation as a 'critical ecological disaster,' with potential contamination of up to 200,000 tons of soil and 49 kilometers of polluted coastline.
• Thousands of volunteers are working to clean the beaches in the Krasnodar region, but experts warn their equipment is inadequate for the scale of the contamination.
• The aging tankers are part of Russia's 'shadow fleet,' used to bypass Western sanctions on oil exports, raising concerns over the environmental risks posed by these vessels.
• International calls for stricter regulations on Russian oil tankers continue to grow, as neighboring countries fear similar disasters in shared waters like the Baltic Sea.