--- title: "Black Sea Under Fire: Environmental Losses and Legal Consequences" language: en content_profile: environmental_analysis section: "" structure_profile: "unclassified" archive_status: "active" hub: "" ai_mode: "include" canonical: "https://zeleniy-list.od.ua/en/environmental-consequences-war-black-sea/" translations: "[]" published: "2026-03-14 09:19:04" modified: "2026-09-16 09:33:30" --- # Black Sea Under Fire: Environmental Losses and Legal Consequences ## Summary The environmental consequences of the war in the Black Sea have already moved far beyond isolated local incidents. Tanker accidents, spills of heavy fuel oil and vegetable oil, destruction of port infrastructure and other technological disasters are placing unprecedented pressure on marine ecosystems. For Ukraine, this means not only struggling to restore t… ## Full analysis The environmental consequences of the war in the Black Sea have already moved far beyond isolated local incidents. Tanker accidents, spills of heavy fuel oil and vegetable oil, destruction of port infrastructure and other technological disasters are placing unprecedented pressure on marine ecosystems. For Ukraine, this means not only struggling to restore the environment. It also means systematically documenting environmental damage — to understand the true scale of changes in the sea and build an evidence base for holding those responsible internationally accountable. The environmental consequences of the war in the Black Sea are therefore becoming a key subject of research for environmentalists, lawyers and international organizations. Destructive blows to the Black Sea Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has become a major environmental risk factor for the entire Black Sea region. A series of technological disasters, petroleum-product and vegetable-oil spills, explosions and fires, and infrastructure destruction have already led to the deaths of thousands of dolphins, mussels, fish and birds, as well as changes in marine ecosystems. Scientists warn that in a semi-enclosed system such as the Black Sea, such events can have long-term consequences. A bird killed by oil contamination. Found on the Odesa coast on December 24, 2025. Photo by Oleksandr Himanov Pollution can spread beyond Ukrainian waters through the system of marine currents. This creates risks for marine biodiversity, fish resources, migration routes of birds and marine species, as well as for navigation and fisheries throughout the Black Sea region. Over the years of war, the marine ecosystem has gone through several crises. In the first months of the Russian invasion, the sea was subjected to major technological pressures: sunken vessels, aircraft crashes, explosions in ports, naval mining and fires in coastal areas. During this period, environmentalists began documenting an increase in the number of dead cetaceans along the coast. In 2023, the situation was worsened by the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant. Large volumes of freshwater, silt, organic matter and agrochemicals from the Dnipro basin entered the north-western Black Sea, causing a sharp decline in salinity and disrupting the balance of coastal ecosystems. Another major blow was the accident involving the Russian tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 in the Kerch Strait in December 2024. Thousands of tonnes of heavy fuel oil entered the sea. Some settled on the seabed, while some periodically returns to the coast during storms, including in Odesa region. The incident became one of the largest heavy-fuel-oil spills in the Black Sea in recent decades. Another incident was a vegetable-oil spill near the Pivdennyi port in December 2025 after a major Russian strike. The oil spill disrupted the oxygen regime of coastal waters, harmed plankton and early life stages of fish, and caused the deaths of thousands of birds. This vegetable-oil spill at the Pivdennyi port became one of the largest cases of coastal pollution in Odesa Bay in recent years. For the semi-enclosed Black Sea ecosystem, this concentration of stress factors means long-term consequences — from declining biodiversity to degradation of spawning grounds. Chronic oil pollution At the end of winter 2026, reports again emerged from various parts of the Black Sea coast of new heavy-fuel-oil deposits coming from sunken sections of the oil tankers. February storms lifted near-bottom water layers in the tanker-accident area, causing renewed oil releases. New slicks have also been recorded near Anapa and Vityazevo in Russia’s Krasnodar region. Despite claims by Russian authorities that the waters had supposedly been cleaned, restrictions on beach use in the area remain in force. After the accident, sections of the tanker hulls remained on the seabed and were isolated in so-called “sarcophagi.” This means that the pollution source has not been eliminated and heavy fuel oil may periodically rise from bottom sediments during storms. Such processes have long been recorded using satellite-monitoring methods. Researchers describe the spill as one of the largest in the history of the Black Sea region. An oil film limits gas exchange in the water, lowers oxygen levels and can kill plankton, juvenile fish and invertebrates. Waterbirds are especially vulnerable: contact with heavy fuel oil destroys their feather structure, leading to hypothermia and death. Vegetable-oil spill at the Pivdennyi port Another serious environmental incident in the north-western Black Sea was the vegetable-oil spill after the shelling of the Pivdennyi port infrastructure on December 21, 2025. The vegetable-oil spill at Pivdennyi disrupted the oxygen regime of coastal waters, harmed plankton and early fish life stages, and caused the deaths of thousands of birds. Damage to storage tanks allowed the pollution to enter the Adzhalyk Estuary and later spread into Odesa Bay. According to data from the State Environmental Inspectorate, tens of thousands of square metres were affected, while the preliminary estimate of environmental damage exceeded UAH 15 million. Oil on the Odesa coast, December 2025. Photo: Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office Yet such catastrophic consequences for the coast could have been prevented if regional authorities had responded and acted promptly. According to Vladyslav Balinskyi, head of the Odesa branch of the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine, the immediate cause of the accident was the Russian strike. However, the scale of the environmental consequences was determined to a large extent by the subsequent response to the incident — or, more precisely, by the lack of one. In the first days after the accident, while the sea was calm, there was a real opportunity to contain the pollution within the Adzhalyk Estuary. Such conditions are critically important for responding to spills of this kind because the pollutant has not yet had time to spread with marine currents. However, effective work to contain, collect and neutralize the oil was not organized during this period. As a result, the pollution escaped the estuary and spread into Odesa Bay. The situation was further complicated by public statements from some officials claiming that vegetable oil was supposedly “safe” for the environment. Such assertions contradict international environmental standards. Under United States Environmental Protection Agency rules (40 CFR 112), vegetable oils are treated as substances that pose a potential threat to aquatic ecosystems and require controls comparable to petroleum products. A similar classification appears in the MARPOL Convention, which treats vegetable oils as hazardous marine pollutants. In seawater, vegetable oil gradually polymerizes and forms a dense film on the water surface. This film disrupts gas exchange between water and the atmosphere, reduces dissolved oxygen concentrations and can kill plankton, juvenile fish and benthic organisms. It is particularly dangerous to waterbirds: contact with the oil damages feather structure and strips feathers of their insulating properties, often resulting in hypothermia and death. During monitoring of the Odesa Bay coast, environmentalists and volunteers recorded numerous deaths of waterbirds, including grebes. Some contaminated birds were found dozens of kilometres from the accident site, demonstrating the rapid spread of pollution by marine currents. Experts stress that this incident exposed a systemic problem in responding to environmental accidents during wartime. The lack of prompt action in the first days after the spill, delays in containing the pollution and public understatement of environmental risks allowed the contamination to spread much farther. Experts assess the Pivdennyi spill as one of the largest pollution events in Odesa Bay in recent years. Birds as evidence in court The condition of bird populations is one of the clearest indicators of the environmental consequences of petroleum and vegetable-oil pollution. Birds are among the organisms most severely affected by petroleum and vegetable-oil contamination. More broadly,according to Ivan Rusev, head of the research department at Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park, mass bird mortality has become one of the clearest indicators of the scale of marine pollution. During coastal monitoring in February 2026, dead mute swans with oil-contaminated feathers were found on the park’s sandbar. At least six such cases were recorded within the park. According to the scientist’s estimate, at least 5,000 birds have already died from oil pollution in the north-western Black Sea. They include dozens of swans and thousands of grebes. Two species were especially affected — great crested grebes and black-necked grebes. The scientist links these losses to the heavy-fuel-oil disaster following the tanker accident in the Kerch Strait, oil spills near Novorossiysk and the vegetable-oil spill near the Adzhalyk Estuary. But scientifically confirming this link is essential for future court proceedings against the occupying state. A mute swan covered in oil and a grebe contaminated with heavy fuel oil, found in Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park in February 2026. Photos by Iryna Vykhrystiuk and Ivan Rusev Criminalproceedings in Ukraine After the heavy-fuel-oil tanker accident in the Kerch Strait, criminal proceedings were opened in Ukraine over marine pollution that caused serious consequences (Part 2 of Article 243 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by investigators from the Melitopol District Police Department in Zaporizhzhia region. In June 2025, the captain of one of the tankers was notified of suspicion. According to investigators, the vessel was carrying 4,000 tonnes of M-100 heavy fuel oil from Volgograd to the Port of Kavkaz and passed through Ukraine’s territorial waters. Investigators believe the captain failed to take difficult weather conditions in the Sea of Azov, the Black Sea and the Kerch Strait into account, leading to the accident and fuel spill. Criminal proceedings were also opened over the shelling of the Pivdennyi port, which caused a massive sunflower-oil spill in the Adzhalyk Estuary. The incident was classified as a war crime and ecocide, and the investigation is being conducted by the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office. Heavy-fuel-oil stains on the shore and dead birds recorded in Odesa region should become evidence in this case. But the state could lose this evidence. Heavy fuel oil on the Odesa region coast. Photo: press centre of the Lyman community, Odesa region Loss of evidence because of inaction by Odesa regional authorities On February 27, 2026, Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park submitted a statement to Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi and to the Odesa Regional State Administration concerning systemic problems in documenting environmental damage caused by the war. The letter states that the regional commission created in 2023 to document damage to protected natural areas is effectively not functioning: no meetings have been held since spring 2024, site visits are not being conducted, and documented cases of damage are not being properly formalized. The park lists the consequences of the war for the coast: cetacean deaths, heavy-fuel-oil and vegetable-oil pollution, mass bird mortality, contamination by munitions debris and the impact of the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant. At the same time, there is no clear mechanism for assessing and documenting these losses. Particular criticism concerns the response to bird deaths caused by petroleum and vegetable-oil pollution. According to the park, instead of collecting and analyzing the bodies of dead birds, they are … disposed of through the veterinary service, resulting in the loss of materials important for investigating environmental crimes. “The requirement to send dead birds contaminated with petroleum products and oil to the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection for testing for infectious pathogens looks completely illogical,” comments Iryna Vykhrystiuk, acting director of Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park. “In this case, the key issue is not to look for infection but to analyze the substance on the birds’ bodies that effectively caused their deaths. These pollutants — petroleum products or oil — should be the subject of examination because they are direct evidence of the impact of hostilities on marine ecosystems and should be treated as physical evidence of environmental crimes.” Vykhrystiuk supports her statement with documents. Protocol No. 1 of the extraordinary meeting of the Odesa Regional State Administration commission on technological and environmental safety and emergencies, dated January 27, 2025, contains a number of instructions on handling birds contaminated with petroleum products. In particular, paragraph 9 instructs heads of district state administrations, as well as settlement, village and city mayors, to transfer contaminated birds that are found to units of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, supposedly for rescue and rehabilitation. At the same time, paragraph 10 of the same protocol instructs the Main Department of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Odesa region, together with local governments, to organize the burial of animal carcasses. In practice, Vykhrystiuk says, this means that bird carcasses contaminated with heavy fuel oil or vegetable oil and submitted for examination are effectively disposed of, while samples of the pollutants are not forwarded for further specialized analysis. Under these conditions, a complete evidence base on the nature of the pollution and the causes of animal deaths is not created. At the same time, the State Environmental Inspectorate does not provide systematic oversight of this process: it does not organize the collection and consolidation of data or obtain expert conclusions on the actual environmental risk factors. As a result, the mechanism for recording and documenting environmental damage caused by Russian aggression is effectively not functioning properly. A formalistic approach and inaction by regional institutions make proper documentation of wartime environmental damage in Odesa region and the Black Sea impossible. The problem goes far beyond technical negligence — it creates strategic risks. Without proper collection and preservation of heavy-fuel-oil samples, the criminal case is weakened: it becomes harder to prove the source and scale of the pollution and its connection to wildlife deaths. This may call the very fact of environmental damage into question. In the broader international context, this creates a risk of losing part of the evidence needed to recover environmental damages in international courts. Without systematic documentation of environmental harm, Ukraine may lose the opportunity to obtain full compensation for the destruction of marine ecosystems. In addition to the legal and financial consequences, the absence of analysis of petroleum products and vegetable oils makes it impossible to assess their toxicity and long-term risks to ecosystems. Pollution will therefore recur while responses remain ineffective. The environmental consequences of the war in the Black Sea region have already moved beyond isolated local incidents. Every heavy-fuel-oil spill and every wave of bird or marine-organism mortality is not only an environmental tragedy but also evidence that war is destroying natural systems on which entire regions depend. That is why the environmental consequences of the war in the Black Sea must be documented carefully — both for science and for international justice, which will ultimately assess the scale of the damage.