Explosive disposal personnel have taken away what is thought to be drone fragments from a beach on Estonia’s north coast.
Environmental concerns have also been raised as the same beach has been hit by leaked oil and garbage which has washed ashore, likely from Russian “shadow fleet” vessels at anchor nearby, “Aktuaalne kaamera” reported.
Local residents have in recent days found drone fragments on the Suureliiva beach, near the village of Vainupea in Lääne-Viru County, around 100 kilometers east of Tallinn.
Following the fears over the drone debris and potential explosive hazards, locals called around four different numbers, with one suggestion being to contact the state Environmental Board (Keskkonnaamet), before rescuers arrived and took the debris to bomb disposal experts.
Meanwhile, spilled oil found on the same beach is thought to have come from tankers still at anchor off the uninhabited island of Vaindloo, around 20 kilometers off the coast to the north, and volunteers are working on the same beach to clean up that pollution.
Vainupea village elder Sigrid Nuutre said she first encountered the fuel oil after returning from the beach with her children a week ago.
“Last Friday I went to the beach with my children; we were barefoot because the weather was already pleasantly warm. When we got home, I found a piece about four centimeters in size stuck under my foot,” Nuutre said.
“I found oil. There has been an oil spill here. I actually came to monitor the situation, because tomorrow there will be a larger volunteer cleanup effort taking place here,” said volunteer Mattias Veermets.
“Tomorrow morning at 9:45 a.m. we will gather right here in the Vainupea Suureliiva parking area, as part of the cleanup effort. We will start removing the fuel oil that has accumulated on the beach,” Nuutre added.
Suureliiva is a popular beach spot, and is located close to the Lahemaa national park.
As well as oil pollution, detritus thought to be from the vessels, this week numbering around a dozen, has also been washing up, including packaging with labeling in Russian and in other foreign languages, medicines and other items.
Several Ukrainian drones strayed into Estonian airspace and the remains of several more were found during Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil facilities at the eastern end of the Gulf of Finland late last month. This included fragments which washed up on Kalvi beach, round 40 kilometers east of Suureliiva . The Ukrainian strikes caused ports such as Ust-Luga to go offline, leading to a backlog of shadow fleet tankers at anchor in the vicinity of Vaindloo, awaiting clearance to head into port. At its peak, the number of moored freighters numbered at around 40, while the figure has more than halved since then. ‘Shadow fleet’ vessels Russia uses to evade oil sanctions are often in poor condition.
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Source:
‘Aktuaalne kaamera,’ reporter Vahur Lauri.
