Fires at oil facilities in Tuapse and the Leningrad region after drone attacks caused pollution affecting the ecosystems of the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. As Novaya Gazeta Europe notes, the impact has gone far beyond local incidents.
The first strike on the marine terminal at the port of Tuapse took place on April 16, 2026. After the fire, reports said an oil slick covering 10,000 square meters appeared off the coast, while petroleum products entered the Tuapsinka River. A second attack on the night of April 20 hit the tank farm of the refinery owned by Rosneft.
After that, severe contamination was recorded on Primorsky Beach, and residents said an “oil rain” fell on the city. Rospotrebnadzor found repeated excess levels of soot, benzene and xylene in the air. On social media, local residents wrote that an oily film and black particles covered windowsills, cars, outdoor furniture and plants.
“Everything around was covered with an oily film and black pellets,” residents of Tuapse wrote on social media.
Environmental expert Alexander Yemelyanov said such fallout forms from soot, ultrafine particles, sulfur compounds and other components of smoke from burning oil. According to him, it can cause coughing, shortness of breath, skin and eye irritation, with children, older people, pregnant women and people with chronic illnesses especially vulnerable. Authorities advised residents to keep windows closed, do wet cleaning and rinse their eyes, nose and throat; classes in schools and kindergartens were suspended.
Similar consequences were reported after attacks on the ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk between March 27 and March 29. On April 5, oil pollution was found on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, 15 kilometers from Ust-Luga, including slicks on the water, contaminated surf and a film on the shore. Environmentalists and local activists warn of risks to the Kurgalsky reserve, the Vostok sanctuary and bird migration routes.
Experts interviewed by the outlet say international law requires states to minimize environmental damage during war. The article cites Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, the 1976 ENMOD Convention and the Rome Statute, which treats widespread, long-term and disproportionate damage to the natural environment as a war crime.