Volunteers struggled on Friday to shovel up tons of sticky oil from Russia's Black Sea coastline following what President Vladimir Putin has called an ecological disaster. The oil spilled from two ageing Russian oil tankers that were severely damaged by a weekend storm in the Kerch Strait that separates southern Russia from Crimea,

Long stretches of Russia’s Black Sea coastline are covered in oil spilled by the wreck of two Russian tankers over the weekend, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warning of an “environmental disaster.” Videos geolocated by CNN show ...

Two Russian tankers were wrecked in a storm on December 15, with one - the Volgoneft-212 tanker - sinking. They were carrying around 9,000 tonnes of oil, and satellite monitoring suggests around 3,000 were spilt.

Efforts to rescue affected wildlife are underway. A rescue center has treated about 500 oil-soaked birds, including cormorants, but over 30 have died

An oil spill from damaged tankers has contaminated a long stretch of sandy beaches along the Russian Black Sea shoreline, polluting the air and threatening wildlife in one of the worst ecological disasters to hit the region in years.

The thick oil slick on the water’s surface endangers the growth and development of marine life, both at sea and along the coastline. For example, oil sticks to a bird’s feathers, causing them to mat and separate, impairing the waterproofing of the feathers.

Video appears to show one of the tankers broken in half and sinking amid a heavy storm, with oil visible in the water.

Denmark warned that Russia’s navy may start escorting the so-called shadow fleet tankers through Danish straits to escalate provocations against NATO countries.