On the anniversary of the tanker disaster, the problem of pollution of Kuban beaches remains relevant

The environmental consequences of the fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait have not been eliminated even a year after the tanker disaster, scientists and authorities in Kuban acknowledged.

As reported by the " Caucasian Knot ," on December 14, the government commission coordinating the cleanup of the fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait reported that more than 90% of the spilled oil had been collected.

Air quality indicators near the port of Taman have alarmed environmentalists.

On December 15, the anniversary of the fuel oil spill, a meeting of the environmental safety working group was held at the port of Taman, scientist and ecologist Roman Pukalov, director of environmental programs for the All-Russian public organization "Green Patrol," reported today, December 16, on his Telegram channel.

According to him, meeting participant Sergei Mezhensky, head of the EFKO South production division, presented the results of "recent monitoring of atmospheric air quality in adjacent settlements."

"The environmental monitoring revealed concerning data. In the village of Volna, specialists from a contracted laboratory recorded one-time readings close to the maximum permissible limit: 0.8 MAC for volatile hydrocarbon compounds. This means there are already serious concerns about the air quality in the vicinity of the Taman port, particularly near children's facilities and resorts," the publication states.

Three fragments of two sunken tankers are still located at the bottom of the strait.

The consequences of last year's disaster "have still not been fully resolved," Roman Pukalov himself emphasized at the meeting. "The story of the fuel oil spill of December 15, 2024, is not over. Three fragments of two sunken tankers, containing up to 3,000 tons of fuel oil, are still at the bottom of the strait. Therefore, a federal state of emergency remains in effect. Whether or not there will be a full resort season in Anapa depends largely on how safely the fuel oil is pumped out of these tanker fragments," he stated.

Kondratyev called for a "full-fledged resort season" in 2026.

On the anniversary of the tanker disaster, Kuban Governor Veniamin Kondratyev met with scientists and environmentalists involved in the disaster response, and the regional task force reported on its Telegram channel.

The governor stated that he was "grateful to the emergency services, municipal teams, environmentalists, and all residents and volunteers who participated and continue to clean up the aftermath of the fuel oil spill."

"From the first days after the accident, more than 60,000 people from across the Krasnodar Krai and 57 regions of Russia came to our beaches to rescue them. Thanks also to those colleagues who coordinated the volunteers at the volunteer headquarters we organized around the clock and provided them with everything they needed for their work," said Kondratyev.

Our task is to restore the damaged beaches as quickly as possible.

According to him, more than 183,000 tons of contaminated soil have been removed from the coast. "I've always emphasized that the source of pollution in the sea must be removed first, and Rosmorrechflot is working on this issue. Our goal is to restore the damaged beaches as quickly as possible. This is important for the economy and the entire resort and spa complex of the region, for businesses and resort residents, and for millions of tourists from across the country. We must do everything possible to ensure that Anapa and the Temryuk District have a full resort season in the summer of 2026," said Veniamin Kondratyev.

The meeting also discussed options for completely removing oil products from beaches. "One promising technology, according to scientists, could be sand reclamation using dredgers—special floating equipment that lifts clean sand from the bottom of bodies of water. These dredgers can be used to collect soil from sand bars—underwater mounds. The governor instructed that the feasibility of using this technology be analyzed," the task force reported.

Volunteers both a year ago and in November 2025 were skeptical about the role of the authorities

As a reminder, it was only on December 25, 2024, 10 days after the fuel oil spill, that the governor of Kuban declared a regional state of emergency, acknowledging that only a municipal state of emergency had been in effect before. On December 24, the day before Kondratyev's decision, Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin ordered a criminal investigation into volunteers' complaints that authorities were not taking sufficient measures to clean up the shores of the fuel oil spill.

On December 19, 2024, volunteers complained about a shortage of equipment and personnel, the collected fuel oil was not being removed on time, and local authorities were merely faking their efforts by reporting the involvement of public sector workers and Cossacks. On December 20, 2024, Kondratyev conducted a demonstrative photo report on the cleanup of Anapa's beaches, but the volunteers were not included in the photo. Meanwhile, the volunteers' strength was dwindling, and the authorities were providing no assistance with specialized equipment or supplies, the volunteers stated that day.

Authorities reported that more than 850 people were involved in the cleanup of the fuel oil spill, but only a few Kuban-Spas personnel were visible on the coast, volunteers indicated in November 2025, after inquiring about where the main forces were deployed.

Materials on the consequences of the fuel oil spill have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the thematic page " Eco-disaster in Kuban ."