Tuapse residents spoke about the environmental situation on the coast.

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While authorities claim the oil spill in Tuapse was localized, local residents claim the fuel oil spill spread over a large area, is being cleaned up primarily by volunteers, and that the consequences of the incident would have been less dire had the response been more prompt.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," more than 2,500 cubic meters of contaminated soil have been removed from the coast of Tuapse, the head of the district reported. Telegram users were surprised to see that the videos published showed people with shovels, not specialized equipment, collecting oil products, and that the cleanup was being carried out without respirators. Authorities consider the emissions local, but local residents claim the oil products have already spread to nearby villages.

The environmental situation in Tuapse and along the Black Sea coast remains, as of April 26, a major topic of discussion among local residents, including in chat rooms. Residents discuss the consequences of the attacks on the oil depot, the scale of the pollution, and the efforts to clean up the oil spill.

Local residents, including volunteers, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about the coastal cleanup situation.

Pollution is moving toward Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk, and the Orlyonok Children's Center.

According to reports circulating in local communities, fuel oil has spread over a significant portion of the coastline following the spill. The pollution has reportedly reached Tuapse's main beach and stretched approximately 20 kilometers from the city. According to some estimates, the oil slick, recorded by satellite data, is up to seven kilometers long and up to one and a half kilometers wide. Pollution is also moving toward Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk, and the Orlyonok children's center, said local blogger Roman, who was personally at the beach and helped volunteers deliver water.

"It's clear from the shore that this isn't a localized issue. Stains are reappearing, even in areas where cleanup has already been done," said volunteer Alexey S.

"The task force reported the removal of more than 3,000 cubic meters of contaminated sand," he recalled, adding that "a significant portion of the cleanup is actually being done by volunteers." About 150 volunteers are out on the shore, which he believes is insufficient for the current scale of pollution.

The shore is still covered in soot and fuel oil in places. It doesn't look like the cleanup is complete.

"There are few people. The equipment is working, but ordinary residents are still bearing the brunt of the cleanup," said volunteer Olga K. She added that despite the efforts, the area remains polluted. "The shore is still covered in soot and fuel oil in places." "This doesn't look like a complete cleanup," she noted.

Olga believes it looks like the authorities are simply using volunteers as free labor to spruce things up before the opening of the announced holiday season, with little concern for people's health, and no one is talking about the scale of the disaster.

Denis said that in the first days after the fire at the oil depot was extinguished, the city could smell a burning smell. It's less intense now, but it hasn't completely disappeared. "The authorities previously stated that maximum permissible concentrations of harmful substances had not been exceeded, but this data is being questioned on social media," he noted.

According to Valentina, a Tuapse resident, the situation is also affecting the mood of residents. "People are increasingly saying they want to leave the Krasnodar Territory. They're afraid of drone attacks," she said.

Some acquaintances, she added, are already considering moving, whereas previously, on the contrary, residents of colder regions came to Tuapse. She moved from Irkutsk, but is now considering returning.

Local residents also reported new cases of injured animals being found.

My diver friends who dive to the seabed see dead dolphins there.

"My diver friends who dive to the seabed see dead dolphins there. "If all living things die—birds, domestic and stray animals, dolphins—then what can we say about people," said volunteer Irina L.

Olga is a relative of Tuapse residents whose homes were damaged during the drone attack. "The residents of the damaged houses are intimidated by the authorities and are in a state of limbo. They have been banned from all communication with the media and are threatened with denial of assistance, although the exact type of assistance is not specified. People are living temporarily in hotels; they are not being told specifically when permanent housing will be available, or whether it will be available at all. "The destroyed houses cannot be restored," she said.

According to her, "the issue of compensation and housing restoration remains open; official agencies continue to report that a payment mechanism and resettlement decisions are being developed."

One ​​of the volunteers, Sergey, believes that the consequences of the incident could have been partially mitigated if the response had been more prompt. "We see one thing on the shore, and another in the reports. Work is underway, but the scale is clearly greater than what is officially stated," he noted.

Ecologist Valery Brinikh notes that in such situations, some dead marine animals may go unnoticed. "After death, marine mammal bodies often float to the surface and wash ashore, but in some cases they can remain in the water column or sink to the bottom—for example, under certain decomposition conditions or seafloor topography," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Such consequences often don't appear immediately, but rather months or years later.

He also added that the situation could have serious health consequences. "Burning and spilling oil products release toxic substances. People inhale combustion products, which can affect the respiratory system and overall health. Such consequences often don't appear immediately, but rather months or years later," he said.

According to him, the main danger lies in the combination of air and marine pollution. "This isn't just a local environmental problem; it impacts the entire coastal ecosystem and the people who live here."

As a reminder, a fire broke out at an oil terminal in the port of Tuapse on the night of April 20 following a drone attack. Residents reported that "an oil rain" had fallen in the city and considered the burning oil terminal a source of environmental threat. On the afternoon of April 24, the governor of Kuban announced that the fire at the port had been extinguished.

On April 22, authorities acknowledged that benzene, xylene, and soot concentrations in the air in areas near the marine terminal (Grozneft, Sortirovka, and Zvezdny, as well as part of the Central District) had been recorded at levels two to three times higher than permissible levels. These data were based on measurements taken on the evening of April 21. The fire at the marine terminal poses a risk due to the release of combustion products, which are carcinogenic and toxic. The "black rain" that fell in Tuapse reduced the level of harmful substances in the air, but led to soil pollution, environmentalists emphasized.

Air pollution from the fire and the oil spill in Tuapse affected the industrial zone, and popular hotels are located tens of kilometers from the port, according to tour operators. They noted that no decline in resort tour sales is expected.

On December 15, 2024, two fuel oil tankers sank in the Kerch Strait. A crew member from 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".