A Toxic Cloud From The Burning Oil Terminal In Tuapse Reached Anapa
- 23.04.2026, 17:28
Smog covered the entire Black Sea coast of the Russian Federation.
Smog from the oil terminal in Tuapse, which went up in flames after the AFU drone strikes, reached Anapa on the fourth day after the fire started, covering almost the entire Black Sea coast of Russia. The day before, the smoke had already reached Sochi, and the day before it penetrated inland, reaching Stavropol and Armavir, writes The Moscow Times.
Photographs of Anapa residents showing dark smoke in the sky above the city were published Thursday morning by ecologist Georgy Kavanosyan. Earlier, environmentalists warned that such smog carries the danger of acid rain in the regions over which it passes.
The "oil rain" caused an oily film and black balloon-like emissions to form on the streets of Tuapse. "This is a catastrophe," write residents of the city in one of the publicks. According to them, there are many ownerless animals on the streets and all of them are covered with fuel oil. A giant oil slick has approached the Tuapse coast, according to monitoring channels.
The day before, Rospotrebnadzor reported "exceeding two to three times the permissible concentrations of benzene, xylene and soot in the air" in a number of Tuapse districts as of the evening of April 21. The agency advised residents not to go outdoors unnecessarily, do not open windows, wash their eyes, nose and throat. Tuapse authorities also canceled classes in schools and kindergartens. Despite this, locals complain that children get dirty with fuel oil just by going out to play in the street. And car owners are reporting a hard-to-wash black scum on their cars.
The black rain that Tuapse residents are complaining about contains soot and vapors of oil fractions that are released into the air due to fires, a chemical safety expert (his name is withheld) told Novaya Gazeta: "Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene - all of this first falls on city streets and then begins to vaporize, filling the air with poisonous substances." According to the expert, such precipitation can lead to chemical burns, exacerbate lung diseases and increase the risk of cancer.
The incident in Tuapse is "the biggest environmental disaster", the consequences of which are "much sadder than the fuel oil spill near Anapa", says ecologist Evgeny Vitishko: "Now we are recording serious pollution of the coastal territory. According to one data, the area of pollution is 7.5 kilometers, according to others - about a hectare. Dead fish, dead larvae of fry - all this we record".
"All rivers flowing into the Black Sea are also polluted, we see soot and oil products in them", - continues Vitishko, adding that "not only resorts, but also protected natural areas will suffer".