Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovich held a telephone conversation on Monday to discuss the situation in the Kerch Strait, the Russian government’s press-service has told the media.
The two men agreed to continue the discussion tomorrow “with the aim to take specific measures to eliminate the effects of the emergency.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on Monday instructed Zubkov to fly to the scene of the disaster urgently to look into what is to be done to repair the effects of extremely stormy weather and a series of maritime accidents there.
“I believe it is expedient for you to make this trip to look into the situation on site and to take necessary action,” Putin told the prime minister in the Kremlin.
The Russian head of state also instructed the prime minister to contact Ukrainian counterparts to coordinate action to minimize the effects of bad weather in the Kerch Strait on the environment.
Zubkov said he would fly to the area on Tuesday. He also expressed the readiness to pool efforts with Ukrainian counterparts to assess the damage caused and to provide an adequate response.
On Sunday, gusts of wind measuring 32 meters per second scattered dozens of ships about the Kerch Strait area within a matter of minutes.
An oil tanker, moored off Zholty Rog Cape, the Temryuk district of the Taman Peninsula, broke in two. The tanker carried 4,077 tonnes of heating oil, and 1,200 tonnes of it leaked into the sea.
Between 11:00 and 18:00 three freighters carrying loads of sulfur sank in the same area.
The deputy chief of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry press-service, Viktor Beltsov, said that “in the Kerch Strait and the Temryuk district of the Krasnodar Territory several groups have already launched oil skimming operations.”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich said for his part Ukraine and Russia were working on a joint action plan to eliminate the effects of the ecological disaster in the Kerch Strait. Rescue workers monitor the movement of oil spills from helicopters. Oil is being pumped out of the damaged vessels.