Oil spills on Tuapse's central beach are being cleaned up around the clock.

Oil spills up to 3.8 square kilometers in area were recorded on a satellite image near Tuapse. Besides Tuapse, the beaches of Agoy and Olginka are also under threat. Authorities reported cleaning up nearly a thousand cubic meters of oil spills. Volunteers have set up a relief center for animals affected by the "black rain."

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," a fire broke out at an oil terminal in the port of Tuapse on the night of April 20 following a drone attack. Residents reported that "an oil rain" had fallen in the city and considered the burning oil terminal a source of environmental threat. On the afternoon of April 24, the governor of Kuban announced that the fire at the port had been extinguished. Oil spill responders in Tuapse scoop out buckets of thick fuel oil that spilled into the Black Sea after booms ruptured.

Oil spills near Tuapse are visible in a fresh satellite image

The Transparent World project published today's radar image of the Tuapse area from the Sentinel-1A satellite on its Telegram channel, received at 06:32 Moscow time. Unlike optical images, radar data allows one to see the sea surface even through clouds, the report says.

The image shows oil spills ranging from 0.4 to 3.8 square kilometers in area. They originate from the Tuapse River and the port of Tuapse. Visible pollution of the central city beach extends over half a kilometer. Pollution is drifting toward the open sea and north along the coast. Due to this direction of transport, oil or petroleum products could appear on the beaches of Agoy, Nebug, Olginka, and even Novomikhaylovskoye, the report states.

Authorities reported the collection of nearly a thousand cubic meters of petroleum products

According to official data, approximately 988 cubic meters of petroleum products have been collected, according to Sergei Boyko, head of the Tuapse Municipality. The work, which is ongoing around the clock, involves 143 people and 48 pieces of equipment.
 
"Oil products are collected in cubic containers, which are transported by truck to the Marine Terminal and the oil refinery. Specialists from these enterprises subsequently dispose of them," Boyko wrote on his Telegram channel.

Roman Pukalov, an environmentalist and director of environmental programs for the All-Russian public organization "Green Patrol," who arrived in Tuapse today, posted a video of the coastline on his Telegram channel. The footage shows black spots along the shore. "The problems are starting on Central Beach," he writes.

Volunteers are helping clean up the aftermath

"It's absolute hell here. Just as you approach, you're covered in oil stains," Horizontal Russia 7x7* quotes one eyewitness as saying.

The Telegram channel "My Tuapse" published a video of the cleanup, noting that people are working without respirators. "Did they forget to give you respirators?" - the video description says.

In the village of Shepsi, Tuapse District, volunteers have set up a station where they wash stray animals. One volunteer said that about 30 people help wash the animals.

Dogs and cats are washed with vegetable oil, and any fur that can't be washed is shorn. The station opened at the Morskaya recreation center in the village of Shepsi, Tuapse District. Those who can't come and help order food, carriers, towels, gloves, and oil on marketplaces.

"The worst-hit animals, to be honest, are half the city: Grozneft (but I think they collected them there first), Sortirovka (they're nearby, and right on Pyatachok, where the shops and bus stops were), basically the center - Zhukova, Karl Marx, and all the surrounding areas, including Kronshtadtskaya, Mayakovsky, and, of course, the Zvezdnaya area. But the situation is likely worst on Admirala Makarov, they're closer to the base," writes user IF in the "Razliv na svyazi" Telegram chat.

Meanwhile, volunteers who were removing contaminated animals encountered aggression.

A drunk man attacked the volunteers, mistaking them for foreign spies, according to "Caution, News." The incident occurred on the beach, where the women had come to remove animals and birds covered in oil products. A drunk man approached the volunteers, suspecting the women were foreign spies. He attacked them. The woman sustained bruises. Police are investigating the man's identity, the report states.