January 09, 2025

Paint the Coast Black


Paint the Coast Black
Volunteer cleaning the oil spill in Sevastopol. Ekolog Zhora Kavanosyan, Telegram.

The Southern Black Sea coasts of Russia and the illegally annexed Crimea have declared a state of emergency after two tankers carrying over 9,000 tons of petroleum collided and sank on the Kerch Strait on December 15, 2024, causing an oil spill for miles along the coast. The accident was the world's first involving mazut, a heavy, low-quality fuel oil mostly produced in Russia and former Soviet countries.

In late December, oil products began washing up on the shore of Anapa, Krasnodar Krai. On December 23, residents recorded a video demanding that Russian President Vladimir Putin send professional assistance. According to them, 5,000 volunteers "with shovels" would not be enough to solve the environmental crisis.

On December 25, Krasnodar Krai declared a state of emergency. Authorities said the mazut spill covered an area of over 49 kilometers (30.4 miles) along the Black Sea coastline. A sharp increase in injured and dead birds has been detected. On January 2 alone, over a thousand birds were delivered to volunteers in the village of Vityazevo. The ecologist Zhora Kavanosyan said, "Almost all [of the birds] die on the way."

The mazut spill stretched as far as 179 miles from the Kerch Strait. On January 3, the Russia-designated governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozzhaev, warned on Telegram about oil clots on the water, beaches, and the danger to birds. The Nakhimovets, Zvedzny Bereg, Golubaya Bukhta, and Serebryany coasts were stained with oil. On Nakhimovets Beach, the petroleum spill covered 760 meters of coastline. 

The Ministry of Transportation explained on Telegram that, given mazut's solidification temperature and density similar to water, it doesn't float on the surface. Instead, this kind of oil floats in the water column. The Ministry added, "There are no proven technologies in the world for removing [mazut] from the water column." Therefore, government officials said, the only hope of cleaning up the waters is to wait for it to wash up and pollute the shore.

You Might Also Like

Belarus Bans Emigrant Connections
  • January 06, 2025

Belarus Bans Emigrant Connections

The Belarusian government has listed a handful of Telegram chats used by Belarusian emigrants living in Warsaw as "extremist materials."
Cleaning up Kerch Strait Oil Spill
  • December 25, 2024

Cleaning up Kerch Strait Oil Spill

A massive oil spill in the Kerch Strait has polluted miles of shoreline in Russia’s Krasnodar Oblast, killing birds and dolphins.
Pyrates Beware!
  • December 01, 2024

Pyrates Beware!

Russian internet users are switching to legal means for streaming media — a consequence of the war in Ukraine.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955