The announcement of preparations for the opening of beaches has given hope to Anapa residents.

The mayor of Anapa announced efforts to exclude pebble beaches from the emergency zone due to the fuel oil spill. Telegram users called for the reopening of sandy beaches as soon as possible.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on February 20, the Russian government reported no new fuel oil emissions on the shores of Anapa and the Temryuk district. Volunteers, in turn, pointed out that the authorities were turning a blind eye to the real state of the beaches and published photos and videos of the emissions after the storm. On February 21, the Kuban operational headquarters admitted the emissions, stating that they were "old fuel oil emissions" remaining on the seabed. The beach lessee in the village of Vityazevo began to add a new layer of sand from quarries to a test site. This restoration experience may subsequently be extended to other beaches in the emergency zone, the Kuban emergency response center reported on February 25.

The mayor of Anapa, reporting on the results of a citizen's meeting, announced that the city had begun testing a sand-filling technology for beaches. "We have also made proposals to exclude our pebble beaches from the emergency zone; all issues are being considered," Svetlana Maslova reported on her Telegram channel on February 25.

This post was published by blogger Max Anapsky, who attended a meeting with Maslova that day. The post garnered 47 comments on his Telegram channel, which has over 8,000 subscribers.

"Where's the justice? Open the pebble beaches, but what about our sandy ones?" Galina Nikitina was indignant.

"Let's hope that Miracleon isn't the only one that can open its beaches. As I understand it, they paid for this test sand delivery," noted K.s.

"The beach in Vityazevo is being filled in at its own expense by the lessee (Mikarleon and...). Should the lessees also fill in other beaches? And the city will be doing this?" - asked Alla.

For many discussing the emergency, Anapa begins and ends with just one central beach, but in reality, it has a vast coastline, part of which was virtually undamaged by the fuel oil, political scientist Andrey Gusiy commented on his Telegram channel.

"And it was precisely the pebble beaches that they talked about last year, that they could safely open them. It's good that they came to this decision this year," he noted.

As a reminder, on April 18, 2025, Rospotrebnadzor declared 141 beaches in Anapa and nine beaches in the Temryuk district unfit for recreation.

On December 15, 2024, two tankers carrying fuel oil sank in the Kerch Strait. A crew member of one of the tankers died as a result. In addition, an oil spill occurred, leading to catastrophic environmental consequences, according to the Caucasian Knot report "Fuel Oil Spill in the Kerch Strait".

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