Tuapse residents pointed out the unresolved problem of fuel oil on hard-to-reach beaches.
A Tuapse resident captured fuel oil residue on the shore on video and posted the video on Telegram. Other locals commented that the fuel oil had been cleared primarily in commercial recreation areas, while hard-to-reach beaches remained contaminated.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on June 25, environmentalists reported that traces of oil products were still present in certain areas of the Tuapse District coastline.
A local resident filmed a video of a beach in Tuapse showing fuel oil residue. The video was posted on the "My Tuapse" Telegram channel. The footage shows rocks and pebbles with traces of oil products. In the background, you can hear the sound of waves, music, and the voices of vacationers.
"From Tuapse to Agoy. No matter what anyone says, the fact is, it's all very sad," reads the video description.
This post on the Telegram channel "My Tuapse," which has over 57,000 subscribers, had garnered 116 likes and 64 comments as of 6:35 AM Moscow time on June 28.
"Who's surprised? How can you clean this up in such hard-to-reach places? A little stone from every passerby would be better. But it will all remain between the boulders and on the boulders themselves and evaporate. Or, during storms, it will be thrown back into the sea and washed up in other places. We need to wait this out," wrote User.
"And where will you go then?" "With this fuel oil pebble? Okay, if that's what you came for specifically, gloves, bags... But how are we supposed to remove it? The area from "Gizelyukha" to "Yuzhny" and from "Yuzhny" to Deder (my favorite) are wild zones. They're very difficult to access," a user with the nickname Jull replied.
"Of course, there are still plenty of such places, but what a disaster we've been through. We can't do everything at once. At least some accessible beaches were cleaned up, a huge thank you to those who did that," noted Lyudmila.
"They cleaned up where they expect money. They've sloppily cleaned up the official recreation areas, but who needs the wild zones? So there's fuel oil lying there," a user with the nickname Jull wrote in another comment.
"Go around the bend on the wild beach and see what's there. "A huge amount of money was allocated for this – to eliminate the emergency," noted Yana.
User Nikolaevich posted two photos in this comment thread, showing fuel oil and a boom on the shore. "Okay, the fuel oil, but who's going to remove this boom?" – he wondered.
"You're all lying. Look, the officials reported that everything has been cleared and the resort season is starting as planned," Natalia quipped.
"The sea is gorgeous, but there are stones in the oil. And if you dig a little deeper, you can find even more," Kristina wrote.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that activists were previously concerned that the quality of the sand used to fill Anapa's beaches differs strikingly from the sand found in the dunes. They noted that this could destroy the city's reputation as a resort. Officials reported that more than 136,000 cubic meters of sand had been delivered to Anapa's beaches. New sand hardens after rain, and turns into a suspension in water, Telegram users noted.
As a reminder, the resort season in Anapa opened amid a stark contrast in coastal conditions. Some beaches are open and deemed safe, while others are closed due to erosion, unstable soil, and environmental risks. Which beaches are ready for visitors and which are dangerous is described in the "Caucasian Knot" report "Anapa Beaches: Open and Dangerous Areas".
On December 5, 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".