Russian officials say rescue workers have successfully removed almost 1,500 tons of oil stranded onboard a tanker that ran aground in December, sparking a devastating oil spill that has damaged miles of coastline along the Black Sea.

A tanker carrying Russian crude discharged at a port operated by Shandong Port Group in east China on Thursday.

A large-scale fuel oil pollution, likely caused by the sinking of Russian tankers in the Kerch Strait, has been discovered on the coast of Odesa Oblast. Source: Ivan Rusiev, a scientist and the head of the research department of the Tuzly Lagoons National Nature Park,