Two Russian tankers sink in Black Sea, spilling 4,300 tonnes of oil

Two Russian tankers sink in Black  Sea, spilling 4,300 tonnes of oil.
Ukraine accuses Moscow of  negligence over risk of ecological damage to marine environment
Luke Harding and agencies

Two Russian tankers carrying more than 4,000 tonnes of  petroleum products have sunk in the Black Sea amid stormy conditions, threatening an ecological  disaster.
On Sunday, the Volgoneft-212 cargo ship  broke in  two after being hit by a large wave. Video  footage showed its  front end sticking vertically out of the water. The  vessel ran into difficulties off the  eastern coast of occupied Crimea,  8km from the Kerch  Strait, Russian media  reported.
The tanker was carrying 4,300 tonnes of  low-quality heavy fuel oil, known as  fuel oil. Russian emergency  services launched a rescue operation involving tugboats and a Mil Mi-8 helicopter.  There were 13 crew members  on board.
Shortly after, another  tanker, the Volgoneft-239,  ran into  trouble in the same area. It was carrying 4  tons of oil.  It is also  believed to be sinking. "Another ship is  sinking. Hell!" shouted a sailor filming from a nearby  boat.
Ukrainian authorities have accused Moscow of  negligence. Dmytro Pletenchuk,  a spokesman for the Ukrainian navy, said:  "These are quite old Russian tankers.  We cannot go to sea in such a storm.

 TheRussians violated the  rules of operation. The result is an  accident. »
Commentators noted that oil products, if spilled into the Black Sea, would cause serious ecological damage to a marine environment already  destroyed by  the war.
Volgoneft-212 was 55 years old, registered in  St. Petersburg and recently  repaired. The  center was cut out and the  edge and bow were  glued together, forming a  large seam in the middle.  This is  the part that appears to  be broken. Crew members watched the ship  sink. Video footage showed men standing  on the  deck, wearing orange  life jackets. A black  dot could be seen floating on the surface, next to  an inverted parabolic  arc. Waves crashed  against the  wrecked hull.
The accident involving  the destroyed Russian  ships is the latest  maritime disaster to  occur off the coast of southern Ukraine. The Black Sea has been a zone of intense military conflict since Vladimir Putin's invasion of the  country began in 2022.
Ukraine used drones and other missiles to sink  part of Russia's Black Sea fleet. It  was forced to leave the Crimean port of Sevastopol and  move to the safer Russian  port of  Novorossiysk.
In June 2023, Russian troops  breached the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam  on the  Dnieper River in  the occupied  territory to  prevent a Ukrainian military attack. The  breach released  18 billion tons of water held upstream in a giant  reservoir. The floods swept away dozens of villages. Water  polluted by fuel, sewage and  fertilizers flows into the Black Sea. According to biologists, the pollution  destroyed mussels and other molluscs, as well as fish and  crustaceans.

Scientists have recorded  an increase in  dolphin and porpoise deaths since the  widespread attack on the Kremlin. About 1,000 cetaceans were killed in 2022.  Bottlenose and  white dolphin populations have suffered.
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