Greenpeace reports 25-square-kilometer oil slick in Black Sea after drone attack on tanker off Russia’s Sochi coast

On October 6, Greenpeace reported that a massive oil slick, covering about 25 square kilometers, had formed in the Black Sea following a drone attack on an oil tanker off Russia's Sochi coast. The attack sparked a major fire, and satellite images indicated that on October 7, the tanker was near Lazarevskoye, approximately 50 kilometers from the site of the fire.

The tanker was later spotted past Tuapse by October 8. Greenpeace spotted a 25-square-kilometer oil slick in a satellite image. Russia's Transport Ministry had previously confirmed that uncrewed boats had attacked the Liberian-flagged oil tanker off Sochi. The tanker's 23 crew members were evacuated. Initial reports suggested that the tanker, named Aframax Rio, was carrying crude oil from Novorossiysk to India.

However, on the morning of October 7, Russia's consumer protection and public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, reported no pollution in the Black Sea following the tanker fire. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that "efforts to deal with the aftermath are going well." Sochi Mayor Andrey Proshunin also claimed that "no pollution from the oil cargo has been detected in the sea so far," although swimming restrictions had been imposed at Sochi's beaches.