Incidents in Tuapse have raised doubts about the readiness of Kuban resorts for the tourist season.

The oil spill and the aftermath of the "oil rain" in Tuapse have worsened the environmental disaster in Kuban, caused by a fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait. Local residents are skeptical about the prospects for the resort season.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," on April 24, after booms broke due to rising water levels in the Tuapse River, an oil spill occurred into the Black Sea. Authorities declared the spill "local," but the oil spill spread to nearby villages. Fuel oil in Tuapse has spread over a large area, and it's being cleaned up mostly by volunteers, local residents told the "Caucasian Knot" on April 26.

The incidents in Tuapse will not deter at least some tourists, according to Dmitry Bogdanov, co-founder and chairman of the expert council of the AMOS Hoteliers Association and vice president of the National Union of the Hospitality Industry.

"Those who aren't afraid to come and those who understand that life doesn't stop will still try to travel," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The market offers both expensive accommodation options and a large number of "reasonably affordable offers." "Some of them are even pleasantly surprising. Therefore, I am convinced that residents of southern Russia will definitely be the first to travel for the upcoming May holidays. At the same time, the flow of people from more distant regions—to sanatoriums, boarding houses, and all-inclusive hotels—also remains quite strong. Overall, the results for 2026 are unlikely to be world-class, but there is hope that it will still prove quite strong in terms of tourism indicators," Bogdanov said.

Tuapse residents are concerned about the environmental consequences of the incidents

The consequences of the "oil rain" have not been fully eliminated: cars are difficult to clean, and traces of pollution are still visible in some areas, Tuapse residents told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Some of them consider the area unsuitable for recreation. This opinion, in particular, was categorically expressed by Tuapse resident Maksim.

"You'd have to be insane to go on vacation and spend money here... The sea is poisoned. The soil is poisoned. The air is poisoned too," he stated. The man added that he had advised his relatives in Moscow to avoid traveling to the Krasnodar Krai this year.

Local resident Valentina admitted that she does not plan to swim in the sea this season and is considering alternative vacation destinations.

Tuapse resident Irina noted that she has not seen authorities suggest evacuating vulnerable groups. "They're not even offering to evacuate children, pregnant women, or the disabled—even temporarily, even though the disaster is obvious," the woman complained.

The situation in Tuapse has compounded the environmental disaster in Anapa

A volunteer working on the coast told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the scale of pollution in Tuapse and Anapa differs, but in both cases the consequences are serious. According to him, oil spills have been recorded in areas adjacent to seaports before, but the current situation is characterized by a more extensive contamination.

He believes that Anapa's beaches could be partially restored to a usable condition by the start of the season, but this will require significant effort. In Tuapse, he estimates, the aftermath of the "oil rain" and fires pose additional risks.

Vera, a 60-year-old Anapa resident, believes that the authorities are downplaying the scale of the environmental disaster. She says that after two days of volunteering on the beach in the Anapa village of Vityazevo in December 2025, she experienced symptoms of poisoning—nausea, vomiting, insomnia, high blood pressure, and a rapid pulse.

However, according to the woman, the doctor did not record a diagnosis. "The doctor said, 'It's age-related,' and didn't address the complaint," Vera told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, noting that she had heard of other similar cases involving volunteers.

Anapa resident Tamara, who lives on Pionersky Prospekt, shared her observations about the crisis in the hotel sector. "Many hotel owners are selling their businesses and leaving to work in other regions. It's mainly small hotel businesses that are closing down," she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Despite the warning signs, some tourists are not canceling their trips. "There's such a thing as fate. What's meant to be, will be." "If you're afraid of wolves, don't go into the forest," Tomsk resident Valery told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"People don't want to think about the bad. "They are drawn to the sea and the sun," Atsamaz Khadikov, a doctor from North Ossetia, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

As a reminder, work on refilling Anapa's beaches with new sand must be completed by the start of the beach season, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister said. According to him, if the work goes according to plan, the beaches will be open by June 1.

However, environmentalists believe that it is too early to talk about the beaches' suitability for receiving tourists, since the sunken parts of the fuel oil tankers have not yet been raised, and residual pollution remains on the sand.

On December 15, 2024, two fuel oil tankers sank In the Kerch Strait. This also resulted in an oil spill, which had catastrophic environmental consequences, according to the Caucasian Knot report "Fuel Oil Spill in the Kerch Strait".

Materials on the consequences of the fuel oil spill have been collected by the Caucasian Knot on the page "Eco-disaster in Kuban".