Oil spills have been discovered on a beach in Sochi.

Black stains were found on a beach in the Lazarevskoye area, extending for approximately 200 meters. These are the consequences of oil pollution in the Black Sea in April, the ecologist noted.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," sections of the Black Sea coast near Tuapse contaminated by oil products from the local oil refinery are being cleaned unevenly: active work is being carried out near urban infrastructure, but remote and "wild" beaches are being neglected, local residents and volunteers stated. A satellite image captured stains in the sea from Shepsi to the port and the Tuapse city beach. The spots do not necessarily mean that there is an oil slick on the water, but film pollution has been recorded there before, the Transparent World project noted. Pollution remains on the beaches in Shepsi, the village of the Elektron sports camp, and the village of Novomikhaylovsky; in some places, there is a shortage of volunteers, Telegram users noted.

Oil slicks have been discovered on a beach in Sochi, the origin of which local residents cannot explain.
Traces of oil products were noticed on the beach in Chemitokvadzha, which is part of Sochi. A published video shows a black, viscous substance on the rocks.

The author of the video reported that small pieces of oil products lay on the rocks for approximately 200 meters. He doesn't understand how they could have ended up on a clean beach if they hadn't swum in from the sea, according to a video that was brought to the attention of the Agency*.

The author of the video reported that he filmed it on the morning of May 8 between the Chemitokvadzhe and VVS stations, near the village of Katkova Shchel in the Lazarevsky district of Sochi.

Ecologist Igor Shkradyuk believes that the stains look like oil, not fuel oil. He suggested that one of the stains that had been floating in the sea since April washed ashore. "The wind could drive them to the shore. Depending on wind direction, oil could reach the shore from Gelendzhik to Sochi."

On May 8, the Sky Eye Telegram channel published a satellite image, which, according to the authors of the project who described the image, shows oil films. "A Planet satellite image from May 8, 2026, at 11:20 a.m. Moscow time, shows the spread of oil pollution on the surface of the Black Sea south and southeast of Tuapse – oil films can be traced at varying distances from the shore all the way to the traverse of the village of Lazarevskoye," the image description reads.

A regional emergency is in effect throughout the entire Tuapse District. For information on emergency assessment criteria, response levels, structures, and resources for eliminating the consequences, please refer to the Caucasian Knot's document "Emergency Situation Regime (ES)".

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

* added to the Russian Ministry of Justice's register of foreign agents.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.