Vacationers in the Krasnodar region complained about oil on the beaches

Children after swimming in the sea are covered in oil, tourists vacationing in the Tuapse region and Novorossiysk complained on social media. The beaches where the photos were taken were called clean and safe by the authorities.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", local residents noted that the authorities hastily lifted the state of emergency in Tuapse, introduced after the fire at the oil refinery and the spill of petroleum products, as traces of oil still remain on the coast and in the water, and some city beaches are closed.

Three complaints about oil from vacationers in Novorossiysk and the Tuapse region were published on July 2 by local Telegram channels and a group on "VKontakte", noted the "Agency"*.

In the first case, the group on "VKontakte" "Emergency Situations Novorossiysk | Krasnodar region" published a complaint from one of the users who wrote about visiting the city beach. "We were at the beach today, the children ran to swim and in the end all came out covered in oil. By the way, it can be washed off with sunflower oil. We will look for clean beaches," the post says. A photo of an inflatable ring with small black spots was attached to the publication.

In the publication of the Telegram channel "Where are we going - Novorossiysk", information from a subscriber is provided: "We swam, and upon exiting the water were horrified - the child's whole body was covered in oil. All toys, clothes, body, shoes - everything was in oil." The subscriber recommended visitors to be vigilant, and the administration to take measures. The attached photos show a child's leg and shorts stained with small black spots.

A complaint about oil also appeared in the Telegram channel "Emergency Situations of Krasnodar and the region". "Our children not only had their clothes covered in oil but their legs too," the publication states. It is noted that this refers to the beach in Olginka of the Tuapse district. The attached photos show a child's foot with a large black spot, as well as a t-shirt and shorts with small black spots.

The post from the Telegram channel "Emergency Situations of Krasnodar and the region", which has over 263 thousand subscribers, had garnered over 19 thousand views and 16 comments by 21:00 Moscow time on July 3.

"The heads of our districts sing about cleanliness at sea just to attract vacationers. After all, people mean money. But the seas are by no means clean," wrote Darya Konstantinova.

"It has always been like this in Tuapse since my childhood. All mats, rings - were always covered in oil. Now when we were driving, what were they thinking?" asked Yulia. "It used to be like this everywhere. There were just far fewer paparazzi," Max sarcastically remarked.

"I lived in Tuapse 16 years ago, even when they built the plant, it wasn't like this. We even swam all day at the central beach and it was fine. Don't say it has always been like this," Mikhail countered. "Kondratiev said - everything is fine! So, no need for blah-blah," joked Kalibri.

In early June, the governor of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratiev commented on the summer vacation season, stating that oil on the beaches "has always been there." Telegram users found the regional head's remarks absurd.

Materials on the consequences of oil spills and petroleum products have been collected by "Caucasian Knot" on the page "Ecological disaster in Kuban".

* included in the Russian register of foreign agents.

** the activities of the company Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) are banned in Russia.