The Kerch Strait is an important global shipping route, providing passage from the inland Sea of Azov to the Black Sea and has been a key point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine after Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014.
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00:00An emergency task force has arrived in Russia's southern Krasnodar region as an oil spill
00:07from two tankers in the Kerch Strait continues to spread.
00:11The team was set up after President Vladimir Putin called on authorities to ramp up the
00:15response to the spill, calling it one of the most serious environmental challenges.
00:20The team includes Russia's emergency situations minister.
00:24The two tankers were damaged in a storm in the Kerch Strait in mid-December with one
00:50of the vessels breaking in two.
00:53Both tankers were carrying more than 8,000 tons of Mazot, a low-quality oil product
00:58mainly used in power plants.
01:01Officials in Russia-occupied Crimea announced a regional emergency last weekend after oil
01:05was detected in Sevastopol.
01:08That came a week after officials in Krasnodar made a similar announcement.
01:13Ukraine has criticized Russia's response, accusing Moscow of only acting when the scale
01:17of the disaster became too great to ignore.
01:21The Kerch Strait is an important global shipping route, providing passage from the inland sea
01:25of Azov to the Black Sea.
01:28It's also been a key point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine after Moscow annexed the
01:32peninsula in 2014.