Black Sea oil spill — will Russia be punished for disaster?
Share
For Ukraine, victory in the war is not only about restoring its territorial integrity, but also about making Russia accountable for all its crimes, including environmental ones. The Black Sea, which has become a target of aggression, needs attention and restoration, but there are many "ifs" on the way.
Vladyslav Balinskyi, an environmental journalist and expert at the National Ecological Center of Ukraine, gave a comment to Novyny.LIVE.
Will Russia be prosecuted for the environmental disaster?
Russia can be held accountable for the environmental crime of dumping fuel oil into the Black Sea, but it all depends on Ukraine's victory and the terms of the post-war agreements, Balinskyi believes. He also emphasizes that the importance of environmental issues is now being assessed not only in moral terms, but also in financial terms.
"We have to understand that the world no longer sees the environment as something abstract. It's not just "birds and flowers" — everything is measured in money," says the ecologist.
According to him, the Prosecutor's Office, together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, is already recording the facts of environmental crimes, determining their scale and calculating damages.
Compensation for damages after the war
He is also confident that the funds raised will be the basis for a large-scale restoration of the Black Sea, including water purification, restoration of flora and fauna, and measures to improve its ecological condition.
"If we have this money, we will be able to organize effective programs to improve the Black Sea. Now it all depends on how well we can argue our losses in the international arena," adds the expert.
Balinskyi believes that international judicial bodies can become a key tool in the compensation process. If successful, Ukraine will receive not only compensation, but also the opportunity to take measures to improve the ecological state of the sea.
Ukraine documents environmental crimes
The environmentalist also believes that Ukraine's future victory will be an opportunity for environmental justice, which involves not only compensation for damages but also the restoration of the wealth that nature has lost due to Russia's aggression. For this path to become a reality, it is important to continue to record crimes, demand compensation, and form a new approach to ecology as a strategic value.
"If we win, Russia will be held accountable for all its crimes. If there are any compromise terms, we will receive only partial compensation," says Balinskyi.
Russian tankers' breakdown in the Black Sea: what is known
As a reminder, the fuel oil spill occurred after the accident of two Russian tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, which split during a storm on December 15, 2024, in the Kerch Strait. A total of 8.6 thousand tons of fuel oil got into the sea. Due to the hostilities, environmentalists cannot clean up the oil slick in the sea until it reaches the coast. We also reported that the day before yesterday there was a new oil leak from the stern of the Volgoneft-239 tanker, which is currently stranded near the village of Taman. Fuel oil stains have already been spotted on the coasts of Romania, Turkey and Bulgaria.
