Ukrainian Navy: Russia unlikely to recover Kerch tankers soon

This was stated by Ukrainian Navy spokesperson, Captain 3rd Rank Dmytro Pletenchuk, during a telethon broadcast.

He emphasized that Russia is doing everything possible to hide the consequences of the disaster it caused.

“Raising sunken ships is a complicated task. It’s an operation that takes more than a day to plan and execute. I wouldn’t expect this to happen before the storm season ends. Of course, anything can be expected from the Russians, but this is risky, requires significant time to organize, and necessitates specialized tools. I’m not sure that such tools are currently available in the Azov-Black Sea region,” said Pletenchuk.

The spokesperson added that the consequences of the Russian oil spill from the tankers will be felt until spring.

Two Russian oil tankers sank in the Black Sea's Kerch Strait

On December 15, two Russian tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, carrying fuel oil, broke in half in the Kerch Strait.

Following the incident, several dead dolphins washed ashore, and videos of polluted beaches circulated online.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has done nothing to prevent the Kerch Strait disaster.

The Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation reported that Russian authorities have downplayed the scale of the ecological catastrophe caused by the oil spills.

Later, it was announced that Russian authorities ordered the sunken Volgoneft tankers to be recovered by June 16, 2025.