New oil spills have been discovered off the coast of Anapa ahead of the opening of the resort season, which begins on June 1.
Dark slicks in the immediate vicinity of official beaches were captured on a satellite image from May 24, The Moscow Times reports.
The slicks are located west and northwest of Anapa, opposite Vityazevo and Dzhemete, as well as in the city center. Isolated «film anomalies» are visible along the coast near Varvarovka, Sukko, and Bolshoy Utrish. These slicks were not present in the images on May 22.
The situation is linked to both the aftermath of the 2024 tanker disaster in the Kerch Strait and to a new spill from the Sofia, a shadow fleet vessel, in April. Environmentalist Zhora Kavanosyan confirmed that numerous fine oil spills were discovered in the village of Volna on May 23. According to him, the coastline is contaminated for at least 4 kilometers.
Ecologist Igor Shkradyuk reported that the latest satellite image suggests that the beaches of the Vysoky Bereg boarding house and the Zhemchuzhina and Aurora children’s camps, previously deemed suitable for recreation by Rospotrebnadzor, are in the contaminated zone. «Oil spills totaling hundreds of square kilometers are floating in the sea. The southerly wind is blowing them ashore,» he noted.
