Kuban authorities report no detected oil spill off regional coast

Krasnodar Region’s operational headquarters rejected reports of a major oil spill in the Black Sea on Oct. 13. Citing Russia’s Marine Rescue Service, it said oil pollution had not been recorded off the region’s coast.

The statement followed social media claims of a pollution trail between Arkhipo-Osipovka and Novorossiysk, based on a satellite image. The headquarters said specialists monitoring the waters had not confirmed the presence of oil products.

Kubanskiye Novosti and Delovaya Gazeta.Yug also reported the official statement. It describes monitoring results at the time of the announcement and does not mean environmental observation has ended.

Russia’s Transport Ministry had earlier reported the rescue of 23 crew members from the Liberian-flagged Aframax Rio tanker. All were Indian citizens. The ministry said the ship had been attacked by uncrewed boats.

The open fire aboard the tanker was extinguished and the vessel towed to a safe location. Reports of the fire and social media posts do not by themselves establish an oil spill in the identified area.