Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that Zmiinyi Island also known as Snake Island, has fallen to Russian forces, with all defenders killed.
An audio making rounds online captured an exchange between the Zmiinyi defenders and the Russian soldiers as they approached the Island.
A Russian officer said: “This is a military warship. This is a Russian military warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed.”
A Ukrainian soldier responds: “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.”
Those were the final known words heard from the island. All 13 Ukrainian defenders were killed in a Russian bombardment Thursday February 24, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
President Zelensky paid tribute to the soldiers killed on the island which is located in the Black Sea in the Odesa region. It plays an important role in delimiting Ukrainian territorial waters.
He said;
“All the defenders of the island of Zmiinyi died, but did not surrender.
“All of them will be named Heroes of Ukraine.
“All border guards died heroically but did not give up. They will be awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously”
Snake Island sits about 30 miles (48 kilometers) off the southern tip of the Ukrainian mainland in the northwestern Black Sea. It’s about 185 miles (300 kilometers) west of Crimea, the Ukrainian territory that Russia annexed in 2014.
Though it is only about 46 acres (18 hectares) in size, a report last year from the non-partisan Atlantic Council think tank called it “key to Ukraine’s maritime territorial claims” in the Black Sea.
