How Russia turns resort in Crimea into a landfill after fuel oil tankers crash
The Russian authorities have been forced to acknowledge that they downplayed the scale of the environmental disaster caused by the oil tanker accident in the Kerch Strait. The emergency level in Kuban has been elevated from municipal to regional, and pollution has now reached the Crimean coast, with the risk of the contamination spreading to the Sea of Azov.
Meanwhile, some actions by Russian officials are exacerbating the damage. For instance, the occupation administration in Crimea decided to transport bags of oil-contaminated sand to the site of the unfinished Crimean nuclear power plant in Shcholkino. This decision has outraged local residents, as storing hazardous toxic waste poses a serious environmental threat to this resort area.
This reckless approach to Crimea’s environment underscores once again that Russia has no genuine interest in developing or preserving the peninsula’s natural and cultural value. Moscow continues to treat Crimea as nothing more than a military outpost and a tool for advancing its political agenda.
