Soldiers and emergency workers are battling to clean
up an oil spill that has reportedly killed some 30,000 birds in the
Kerch Strait, by the Black Sea.
Alexander Tkachev, governor of Russia's Krasnodar region, said the incident was an "ecological catastrophe".
Some 2,000 tons of fuel oil leaked into the straits
between the Black Sea and the Azov Sea after a fierce storm broke a
tanker apart on Sunday.
About 10 ships sank or ran aground in the region and 20 sailors are missing.
So far, 35 crew members from the stricken vessels have
been plucked to safety by rescue teams. The bodies of three sailors
were found on Monday morning.
At least two other ships were carrying potentially hazardous cargo when they sank, including nearly 6,000 tons of
Officials estimate that nearly half the tanker load has already leaked out in the water.
"Some 30,000 birds have died and it's not possible to
count how many fish," Mr Tkachev was quoted as saying by Russia's
Interfax news agency.
"The damage is so great that it's hard to assess. It can be equated with an ecological catastrophe," t
Helicopter and ships equipped with tackling the oil spill at sea have been hampered by more stormy weather.
The prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine are due to visit the region later on Tuesday to discuss the emergency aid plan.
Russian environmentalist Vladimir Slivyak told the AFP
news agency the tanker accident was a "very serious environmental
disaster".
The heavy oil was sinking to the seabed and could take years to clean up, he said.
Russian prosecutors say they are investigating whether the ships' captains ignored warnings of the approaching storm.