Disaster in Tuapse. Russians have had enough. “We are afraid to let the children go”
The mayor of Tuapse, Sergei Boyko, called on residents of several streets located near the refinery to evacuation to the temporary accommodation facility that was opened at the local school.
The governor of Krasnodar Krai, Veniamin Kondratiev, also arrived in Tuapse. He recommended that additional forces and equipment from nearby communes, including the reserves of road services and construction organizations, be used to eliminate the effects of the crisis. According to his statement, 220 people extinguished the fire at the refinery and over 50 pieces of equipment were involved. The extinguishment is handled by the main office of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Krasnodar Krai, and joint troops from the Republic of Adygea, Rostov Oblast and Stavropol Krai are helping.
— There are 31 people at the evacuation point, including nine children. If the situation requires it, residents of houses located near the refinery will be accommodated in a hotel, Kondratiev said.
He also added that students from schools in the city of Tuapse, which cannot admit children for now due to the fire, may be temporarily transferred to other educational institutions “so as not to interrupt the teaching process.”
The refinery itself has been under attack since mid-April. After one of the previous attacks, it took four days to extinguish a fire at the plant.
Poor reaction from the Russian authorities
In addition, in Tuapse, the power supply system to the water pump station at the refinery stopped working. For this reason water supplies were suspended in part of the city. Also in the areas affected by the cut off of supplies, “tanks with water supplies for domestic and drinking purposes” have been placed.
Minister of Emergency Situations Alexander Kurenkov, who arrived in the Krasnodar Krai on Putin's orders, announced on the evening of April 28 that “the main threat has been contained” — the leak of burning oil has been stopped. He described the situation in Tuapse as “difficult but under control.”
At the same time, the fire in the refinery has not yet been extinguished. Kurenkov appointed two priority tasks: extinguish open fire as quickly as possible and dispose of contaminated soil in the coastal zone. In the morning of April 29, the operational staff of the Krasnodar Krai reported that the fire had stopped spreading.
Putin himself stated a day earlier that the attack on Tuapse could lead to serious ecological consequences. Speaking at a meeting on election security, he said drones were increasingly targeting civilian infrastructure, particularly energy facilities in Tuapse, posing potential ecological threats.
At the same time, Putin added that the Governor of the Krasnodar Krai, Veniamin Kondratiev, reported that there were no serious threats, and that local residents, in his words, were coping with the emerging challenges.
“People, animals and nature suffer”
Residents are trying to reach regional and federal authorities to make them fight the effects of the fire more actively. In comments on social media, they complain in particular that those in power are more interested in the economic effects of the attack rather than the threat to people's lives and health.
“What difference does it make, where [ropa] was it supposed to hit?! People, animals and nature suffer,” writes resident Svetlana.
Resident Alina notices that “The authorities are more concerned about how empty their pockets will be and how that will affect prices than about people's safety and lives.”.
People are unhappy that the regional governor has only now arrived in Tuapse but ignored previous attacks on the refinery.
Was he here to take some photos for a report? What prevented him from coming the first and second time? He better tell us what he did so there won't be a fourth time! And let him explain why the president is silent, whether for him this is an ordinary matter.
“People breathe oilcars are covered with black goo, we are afraid to let our children out on the street, and our mouths are gagged! It no longer happens somewhere out there, but right under our windows. For four years, the authorities were unable to even close the sky over one factory. Do you understand what that means? There is no protection. We were simply abandoned, we are like targets on a shooting range. And now they are calling for decisive measures? After all, each of their decisive decisions turns into a new hell for us,” says another Russian.
“I'm afraid to imagine the consequences”
“They woke up when you just can't stick your head in the sand anymore, like with the previous waves. My niece started coughing last week – even though my sister and the kids haven't been out on the street since April 16. These reminders are a trite excuse to shrug off responsibility when the surges surge. terrifying statistics in the region. They will say that people themselves are to blame and the air quality is generally normal,” writes one of the residents.
He complains that instead of “help and words of gratitude, the services rudely throw volunteers off the beach, saying that they will clean everything themselves.”
“Animals, sea inhabitants die there, people get poisoned, there are children, pregnant women, I'm even afraid to imagine the consequences. Do they want to quietly cover it with sand to be ready for the summer season?”
To improve the situation in the city at least a little, people organize help themselves. For example, in groups on WKontakt, residents of other cities in the region offer free accommodation at home until the situation in Tuapse improves:
“There are several houses in the Khadyzhensk area whose owners are ready to accept people with children. Of course, smoke also reaches there, but not to the extent of Tuapse. The conditions are of course not five-star, but to survive the most difficult period, they are quite enough.”
Volunteer fight
Meanwhile, in Tuapse itself and the surrounding area, volunteers are fighting the ecological consequences. After the first explosions, they gathered in groups to clean up the oil, and after another fire, they continued their work. You can see many similar announcements in WKontakt groups and Telegram chats:
“VOLUNTEERS TO CLEAN OIL. On April 28 and 29, from 9 a.m., they collect petroleum products on the beach. Equipment is provided. People from outside the city will be accommodated in the guesthouse.”
“TUAPSE: 28/04 volunteers needed to wash animals and catch birds.”
Volunteers point out that there is no central cleaning staff in Tuapse. According to them, “everyone comes alone, they are given uniforms and masks, shovels and other things.”
Concerned residents talk about the situation on social media. For example, they report that dams were installed on the rivers, but some of them could not withstand the rising water level – as a result, there was a large flood. According to volunteers, the liquidation is being carried out by “service forces, volunteers are not allowed to enter.”
“People are spontaneously (not in an organized way) cleaning other beaches. Dogs and cats are washed at two points, help has been collected for them. Found birds are transported to a temporary transition center and then sent to Anapa by car volunteers,” they explain in the chat.
Volunteers are also financially supported by those who cannot take part in the cleaning themselves. One of the residents says that he “brought a batch of gloves, bags and buckets to the beach” because the cleaning was organized by the tenants themselves. According to him, the removal of contaminated soil was organized using heavy equipment. At the same time, manual work will still be needed on the beach in the coming days.
Particular attention is paid to animals that people try to cleanse from pollution:
“Today there was the issue of housing dogs and cats after bathing. Yesterday, several of them were released, washed and dried overnight, to their previous place of residence. Today everyone saw them covered with mazut again. This undermines morale and there is no shelter in town. Delays are also a problem.”
