Russia elevates response to Kerch Strait oil spill, declaring federal-level state of emergency

Russian federal officials have declared a state of emergency in response to last week’s oil spill in the Black Sea, where a storm in the Kerch Strait caused two tankers to crash. Cleanup efforts have been underway since the tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 first sank on December 15. One crew member was killed, and some 3,000 metric tons of fuel leaked into the Black Sea, polluting an estimated 50 kilometers (31 miles) of coastline in Russia’s Krasnodar region.

When elevating the federal government’s response, Emergency Situations Ministry head Alexander Kurenkov did not specify the exact territory where the state of emergency has been introduced. Kurenkov’s announcement comes a day after officials in Krasnodar declared a regional-level state of emergency. Municipal-level states of emergency have also been declared in parts of the Crimea and Kerch regions.