Bloggers and volunteers debated the effectiveness of fuel oil barriers in Kuban.

Protective embankments hastily erected in the fall of 2025 in Anapa have been virtually destroyed by strong storms and are no longer functioning, volunteers noted. Embankments and nets are a good way to protect beaches from fuel oil if they are built properly and regularly maintained, bloggers countered, noting that they found fuel oil spills behind the embankment after the storm.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," scientists and authorities in Kuban acknowledged that the environmental consequences of the fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait have not been eliminated even a year after the tanker disaster. A representative of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that all three cofferdams have been installed, and 29.6 kilometers of protective embankments have been constructed along the coast to protect beaches. On January 1, following a severe storm, bloggers reported new oil spills and partial destruction of protective embankments. After the storm, protective nets were scattered along the shore in Anapa and the Temryuk district. In some places, they were covered with sand, while in others, they were at the water's edge and could be carried out to sea, bloggers reported. The "Nets, Sieve, Shovel" headquarters cleaned up the nets torn from the protective embankments by strong waves. Volunteers explained that they tried to remove the nets before the storm to prevent them from being carried out to sea, and lamented their inability to preemptively remove the nets as the storm approached.

Volunteers from the "Nets, Sieve, Shovel" headquarters published a photo on January 3rd of a protective embankment, the nets of which had been washed away by the water—they lay behind or in front of the embankment, not protecting the sand. "

I really hope that the correct conclusions will be drawn. December, January, and February are not the time for this method," they wrote on their Telegram channel.

They also published a video showing the protective net lying behind the embankment, periodically battered by strong waves. "Basically, we can say that the networks are operational," they wrote in their post.

Vladimir Kalyaev, one of the developers of the method for collecting fuel oil using nets, pointed out that the shafts must be built in compliance with the technology.

"The shaft, built in January according to regulations, remained idle until the fall. "Yes, it also required inspections and repairs, but how many storms has it survived?" he wrote on his Telegram channel, noting that fuel oil emissions were detected today at a considerable distance behind the protective embankment on the Anapa beach.

"The benefits of the embankments are great, and the nets on them even more so, but if the embankments are made correctly, they should be at least 2.2 meters high, and preferably higher. They also need to be checked regularly - every two hours, and where necessary, the nets need to be adjusted. "The nets themselves are quickly replaced with new ones as they become contaminated with oil; there's no need to wait for them to be washed away from the embankments and then washed away by the sea. "It's not necessary to ditches near the embankments, in principle, but if you do, do so not on the seaward side, but on the dune side. This way, the light sand fraction will accumulate there and strengthen the embankment. When the ditch is on the seaward side, it fills with fuel oil and debris, and then the sea safely washes all this away," noted Andrey Makovozov, author of the Makovozov blog.

As a result of the hurricane wind, the fuel oil deposits were exposed, including new liquid fractions that had recently washed up from the sea, he noted, adding that "if we really want the 2026 season to take place, we need to roll up our sleeves every day, and not just fill up the embankment and forget about it for two weeks." storms."

Ecologists question the effectiveness of protective embankments

"A strong storm could lift this sand and wash the fuel oil onto the shore. Until there are strong storms, the embankments remain in place. "But when the storm comes, it will simply wash them away," Igor Shkradyuk, an expert with the International Socio-Ecological Union and coordinator of the Wildlife Conservation Center, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent in November 2025.

Sea waves are much stronger than sand ramparts.

Sand ramparts and polypropylene nets can partially stop fuel oil emissions, but only during moderate waves, said Valery Brinikh, PhD in biology and head of the Institute of Regional Biological Research. "Sea waves are much stronger than sand ramparts. Everything will depend on the strength of the storm. "If it's serious, no amount of embankments will help," the ecologist told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

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