Russia declared a regional state of emergency on Saturday in Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014, as workers cleared tons of contaminated sand and earth on either side of the Kerch Strait following an oil spill in the Black Sea last month.

Volunteers are grappling with environmental havoc across more than 35 miles of coastline, after at least 3,700 tons of heavy oil spilled into the Kerch Strait.

A dolphin rescue center in Russia says 32 dolphins have died since fuel oil spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait near the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula.

Russian investigators have determined that an oil spill from two tankers in the Black Sea last month was smaller than initially thought, the Transport Ministry said on Thursday.

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have observed that Ukraine's enhanced offensive capabilities in the Black Sea, highlighted by the destruction of two Russian helicopters in Crimea,

More than 10,000 people have been working to shovel up viscous, foul-smelling fuel oil from sandy beaches in and around Anapa, a popular summer resort. Environmental groups have reported deaths of dolphins,

Russian rescue workers have cleared more than 86,000 metric tons of contaminated sand and earth on either side of the Kerch Strait following an oil spill in the Black Sea last month, the emergencies ministry said on Saturday. The oil leaked from two ageing tankers that were hit by a storm on Dec. 15. One sank and the other ran aground.

Released January 4, 2025 Russia declared a regional state of emergency in Crimea on Saturday, as workers cleared tons of contaminated sand on either side of the Kerch Strait following an oil spill in the Black Sea last month.