Efforts to clean up the Kerch Strait continued after the oil spill that occurred last December, caused by two storm-damaged Russian tankers: the Volgoneft-239, which ran aground, and the Volgoneft-212, which sank. The spill released at least 3,700 tonnes of fuel oil.
More than 400 kilometers of coastline were cleared, and over 150,000 tonnes of contaminated sand and soil were removed.
The Kerch Strait, which divides the Crimea Peninsula from mainland Russia, serves as a crucial global shipping corridor, connecting the inland Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.