City officials in Tuapse and representatives of the Emergency Situations Ministry barred female volunteers from helping clean petroleum products from the shoreline, a Kommersant correspondent reported after attending a meeting between officials and volunteers.
Authorities justified the ban by citing concern for women’s reproductive health and asked that the requirement be met “with understanding.”
Some of the female volunteers pushed back, the Kommersant journalist reported, saying they would “decide for themselves what to do with their own reproductive health.”
Since mid-April, Ukrainian forces have struck Tuapse with drones four times, targeting the city’s oil refinery and a marine terminal that forms a single complex with the refinery. The fires have caused what residents described as an “oil rain” on several occasions, and petroleum product spills have been found in a local river and in the sea. A regional state of emergency is in effect across the Tuapse municipal district.
Authorities promised to clear the beaches of oil by June 1, the start of the resort season — a task environmentalists say is impossible. Specialists estimate the coastline near Tuapse is contaminated with petroleum discharges over a stretch of approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles).
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