As it follows from social networks, during January 8, fuel oil pollution from the wreck of Russian tankers on December 15 reached the entire coast of Western Crimea, the farthest from the site of the disaster.
Chunks and stains of fuel oil were seen in Shtormove (Quart Biy), Popovka, on the Southern spit of Donuzlav, and fuel oil was also reported on the coast of Karkinitsky Bay. Moreover, if small emissions were recorded in the morning of January 8, then by the evening “the sea was carrying out 5-kilogram chunks of fuel oil”.
Also on January 8, for the first time in the new year, Crimean gauleiter Sergei Aksyonov commented on the situation, stating that “according to forecasts, there is a high risk that the situation may worsen”.
Aksyonov announced attempts to collect fuel oil from the sea from “small vessels involved”, the installation of “metal barrels for manual collection of fuel oil” in villages, and also admitted that Oleg Zubkov’s “Taigan” cannot cope with the flow of birds covered in fuel oil.
Our expert Borys Babin explained the prolonged silence about the ecological catastrophe of Aksyonov, as well as from his “evil friend” Vladimir Konstantinov for “Krym.Realii” by the long absence of “information from the Kremlin clerks”.
He also recalled Aksyonov’s role in the current scams with oil products on the occupied peninsula, as well as the desire of the Konstantinov clan to seize the “oil assets” of the remnants of the business empire of Lev Mirimsky.
The ARC expert pointed out that traces of fuel oil on the shore and dead birds and dolphins washed up on the beaches are only “fingerprints” of the tragedy, and not its main problem, recalling that risks arise for all biological populations of the sea, and for the balance of the hydrogen sulfide layer, which seems to be the most dangerous in the long term.
And the so-called “head of the ecology department of the Crimean Academy of Sciences” Elena Evstafieva said that it will take 8-10 years to restore the Black Sea ecosystem after the oil spill, and that “even cleaning the sea from oil products may take at least a year.”
Both she and Georgy Kavanosyan admit that fuel oil will rise from the bottom as temperatures rise, since the shallow area of the tanker wreck often warms up above 25 degrees in the summer.
Against this backdrop, a tragicomic message came from Sevastopol, where “volunteers” began collecting funds on the Internet to “rent a room for storing humanitarian aid” for bird washers.
As local channels write on this matter, “enterprising people are taking advantage of the weakness of eco-activists, organizing warehouses for collecting humanitarian aid and asking for donations to personal cards”, while “officials” are “not in the know”.
At the same time, Sevastopol residents state that it is unclear “where to put these bags of fuel oil and who should take them where”, and that “official rescuers” “don’t take a step without the governor’s orders”.
