Volunteers helping to clean up the oil spill off the Black Sea coast are asking Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for more help as they battle environmental chaos across more than 35 miles.
Two Russian tankers carrying thousands of tons of fuel were seriously damaged by a storm near the Black Sea earlier this month, causing the oil spill, according to Russian state media. The tankers were carrying more than nine thousand tons of oil, according to TASS, much of which spilled into the Kerch Strait between Russia and annexed Crimea.
Last week, Putin called the spill an “ecological disaster”.
According to Greenpeace Ukraine, at least 3,700 tons of heavy oil were spilled, although the actual volume could be higher. Video from the scene shows how dark waves drag heavy fuel, known as mazut, toward rocky shores. In another video, a bird can be seen with its wings covered in oil, cawing in anguish as it was hit by the waves, unable to lift its wings and fly.
In a video message addressed to the Russian president and prime minister on Tuesday (24), the volunteers stated that local authorities in Russia’s Krasnodar region did not have the necessary means to clean up the oil spill.
“Local authorities cannot deal with this situation, they do not have the necessary resources. The only resource is ordinary people with shovels, a catastrophe like this cannot be resolved with shovels,” said a volunteer in the video who calls for federal resources and experts to be sent to the area. They also ask for foreign experts to be sent, warning that the magnitude of the contamination will have international repercussions.
“It was recently announced that five thousand volunteers and rescuers are working to eliminate the consequences. We believe that in such a large disaster area, not even 50,000 people with shovels are able to solve the problem and save the situation,” the volunteer added.
On Thursday (26), Putin insinuated that the ship captains were to blame for the incident. “Why do I say this is a great disaster and a catastrophe? Because almost 40% of the fuel was spilled,” he said, adding that efforts to recover the ships were hampered by the ongoing storm.
Russia’s Investigative Committee will open a criminal case into the incident, Russian state media TASS reported.
*With information from CNN en Español
This content was originally published in Volunteers cleaning up oil spills in the Black Sea ask Putin for help on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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