Russia News: Ukraine’s third Tuapse drone strike deepens refinery spill
russia news from Tuapse took a harder turn after Ukraine hit the town’s refinery for the third time in a few weeks. The latest strike on Russia’s Black Sea coast added oil spill cleanup, beach barriers, and animal washing to a fire that had already burned for days.
Tuapse refinery after April 20
The refinery in Tuapse was struck again on April 20 after an earlier hit on April 16, and the April 20 fire lasted five days. By the end of that attack, at least eight storage tanks had been destroyed, and spilled petroleum leaked into the Tuapse River and then into the Black Sea.
Authorities dispatched more than a dozen boats to clean up the slick at sea, while booms were installed on beaches and emergency crews used excavators to clear stony stretches of coast. Volunteers also collected cats, dogs and birds to wash away the muck before sending them to shelters.
Sergei Solovev in the cleanup effort
Sergei Solovev, a cleanup volunteer, drove from Sochi, 116km down the coast, to join the effort. He said, "I saw train carriages covered in residue from the black rain and animals. It’s all very toxic" and added, "And the smell was oily."
Elena Lugovenko said, "The rain covered all the cars and animals," and added, "All the animals are covered in oil. Volunteers have set up animal cleanup centres." Residents were told to stay indoors, keep windows shut, and leave home wearing a mask.
Black rain and air warnings
The spill and smoke left another problem on the ground. An analysis of the air around Tuapse found concentrations of benzene, xylene, and soot three times above safe levels, while Solovev said, "It’s an environmental disaster," and warned, "You have to drink absorbents every two hours while cleaning it up," along with, "Wear a mask and chemical protection."
The cleanup now stretches across a 20-kilometre (12-mile) radius of coastline, where Solovev said, "There’s oil already all over the coastline within a 20-kilometre (12-mile) radius. It’s all still not being cleaned up; it’s all covered in oil. All the soil needs to be removed, a huge amount of this muck, all covered in rocks in hard-to-reach places, which you can’t even get to with equipment." The next step is the continuing coastal cleanup, with volunteers and emergency crews still working through the oil, the animals, and the contaminated shoreline.
