An oil slick was discovered off the Russian coast near Sochi following a fire on a tanker

An oil slick has formed in the Black Sea near Sochi following a fire on the tanker “Aframax Rio,” which occurred as a result of a Ukrainian attack on October 6. According to satellite data, the oil slick’s area increased from 8 to 25 km² over three days.

The oil slick is moving in the direction the vessel took after being struck. Around noon on Wednesday, the tanker “Aframax Rio” was near the village of Lazarevskoye, approximately 50 km from where the fire first broke out. The next day, the vessel was already near Tuapse. Environmentalists speculate that the tanker may be towed to Novorossiysk.

Marine drones attacked the “Aframax Rio,” which is capable of carrying up to 100,000 metric tons of oil, on the evening of October 6. After the strike, a fire broke out on the ship, and black smoke blanketed Sochi. The open flames were not fully extinguished until the following day. All 23 crew members, who are Indian citizens, were rescued.

According to Mash sources, the tanker was fully loaded with oil. Due to the fire, authorities closed the beaches in Sochi and Sirius, but the restrictions were lifted on October 8. At that time, officials stated that they had not detected any contamination of seawater with petroleum products. Rospotrebnadzor also reported that seawater samples from all areas of Sochi met sanitary standards.

This is reported by Russian propaganda media.

17 tankers delivered over 562,000 metric tons of fuel to Russia — Main Intelligence Directorate.

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The day before, the Russian oil refinery “Kirishinefteorgsintez” in the Leningrad Region completely halted oil refining following a drone attack on August 30. According to Reuters, two primary refining units at the plant were damaged, while two others were not in operation at the time of the strike.

Russia has reportedly restored 90% of the oil refining capacity damaged as a result of Ukrainian attacks. According to Vladimir Putin, about 10% of Russian refineries’ capacity remains damaged at this time.