After an accident with a tanker in the Black Sea, the extent of environmental pollution is greater than initially announced.
At 80 square kilometers, the oil spill is several hundred thousand times larger than specified by the polluter company, said the Russian Academy of Sciences on Wednesday after evaluating satellite images.
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko had previously instructed the state environmental agency to investigate the extent of the accident.
"On August 8, the oil spill stretched from the coast to the open sea over a length of 19 kilometers." The amount of oil that leaked near the city of Novorossiysk was previously unknown.
On Saturday there was an accident while pumping oil into a Greek tanker "Minerva Symphony" at a sea terminal six kilometers off the Russian coast.
According to the pipeline operator, around twelve cubic meters of the raw material entered the sea.
The polluted area was estimated at 200 square meters.
The operator also announced that the oil spill was quickly contained and posed no threat.