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

Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
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. 
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
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.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 

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