The mayor of Anapa announced plans to add new sand to all beaches.
If sand samples at Miracleon Beach are acceptable, Anapa authorities intend to replenish all the city's beaches within three months.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," eight pebble beaches in Anapa, from the village of Bolshoy Utrish to Vysoky Bereg, have been excluded from the emergency zone due to the fuel oil spill. The decision on their reopening will be made by Rospotrebnadzor. Previously, the beach lessee in the village of Vityazevo began to replenish a new layer of sand from quarries in a test area. This restoration experience may subsequently be extended to other beaches in the emergency zone. Ecologist Yevgeny Vitishko believes that such actions simply conceal the problem, but do not solve it. Representatives of Rospotrebnadzor (the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) took samples from Miracleon Beach in Vityazevo, which is being refilled with new sand, including samples of the imported sand itself. Telegram users emphasized that the results of the studies, as before, are unlikely to be made public.
The prospects for the 2026 summer tourist season in Anapa remain unclear: on February 4, Rospotrebnadzor head Anna Popova stated that the beaches of Anapa and the Temryuk district are still unsuitable for recreation following the fuel oil spill. Although she did not rule out that the situation could change by the start of the summer season, some bloggers believe that the official's words "put an end to the 2026 season." On February 15, social media users considered that the timeframe proposed by Rospotrebnadzor for reopening Anapa's beaches is unrealistic.
It will take three months to replace the sand on all of Anapa's beaches, said city mayor Svetlana Maslova. "We have already developed a map. It will take three months to fully replace the contaminated sand," she was quoted as saying in a Vesti report.
Pebble beaches are preparing to reopen. "We'll begin preparations now to welcome our guests fully prepared and ensure they have a satisfying vacation," Leonid Golub, director of the Vysokiy Bereg boarding house and the pebble beach of the same name, told the television company.
The results of sand samples taken from the beach where the sand was replaced will be ready next week, Kuban Vice Governor Alexander Ruppel announced at a meeting at the Anapa City Hall. "If the results are positive, which we all hope for, we'll develop a strategy and gradually fill other beach areas," he was quoted as saying on the Anapa City Hall Telegram channel.
If the sand samples are positive, the phased filling of 12 km will begin. beach areas, Maslova explained on her Telegram channel.
As a reminder, on April 18, 2025, Rospotrebnadzor declared 141 beaches in Anapa and nine beaches in the Temryuk district unsuitable for recreation.
On December 15, 2024, two tankers carrying fuel oil sank in the Kerch Strait. A crew member of one of the tankers died as a result. In addition, an oil spill occurred, leading to catastrophic environmental consequences, according to the Caucasian Knot report "Fuel Oil Spill in the Kerch Strait".
Materials on the consequences of the fuel oil spill have been collected by the Caucasian Knot on the page "Eco-disaster in Kuban".
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