Russia continues to suffer military defeats in the strategically vital Black Sea, one of Moscow's most crucial avenues for political and economic influence into the Mediterranean and beyond. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.

Russian investigators have determined that an oil spill from two tankers in the Black Sea last month was smaller than initially thought, the Transport Ministry said on Thursday.

Volunteers are grappling with environmental havoc across more than 35 miles of coastline, after at least 3,700 tons of heavy oil spilled into the Kerch Strait.