Attack on Snake Island

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Attack on Snake Island
Part of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Date24–25 February 2022 (1 day)
Location
Snake Island, Ukraine
45°15′18″N 30°12′15″E / 45.25500°N 30.20417°E / 45.25500; 30.20417Coordinates: 45°15′18″N 30°12′15″E / 45.25500°N 30.20417°E / 45.25500; 30.20417
Result Russian victory
Belligerents
 Russia  Ukraine
Units involved

 Russian Navy

State Border Guard[1]
Strength

Per Ukraine:

  • 13 border guards

Per Russia:

  • 82 soldiers (24 February)
  • 16 boats (25 February)
Casualties and losses
Per Russia:
None		 Per Ukraine:
1 search and rescue boat seized
Whole garrison captured
Per Russia:
6 boats sunk
82 soldiers captured
This article is about the 2022 attack. For the 1788 naval battle, see Battle of Fidonisi.

Snake Island (Ukrainian: Острів Зміїний, romanized: Ostriv Zmiinyi; Russian: Oстров Змеиный), a Ukrainian island in the Black Sea, was attacked on 24 February 2022 during the early stages of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Background

Photo of the island taken in 2008

Snake Island is a small rocky island off the southern coast of Ukraine, strategically located off Romania and at the edge of Ukrainian territorial waters in the Black Sea.[2][3]

The only settlement on the island is Bile, built in 2007.[4]

In August 2021, as Russian forces built up around Ukraine, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a press event on the island, during which he said: "This island, like the rest of our territory, is Ukrainian land, and we will defend it with all our might."[3]

Attack

The Russian Navy vessels involved: cruiser Moskva (left) and patrol ship Vasily Bykov (right).

On 24 February 2022, the first day of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,[1] Ukrainian State Border Guards announced about 18:00 local time that Snake Island had come under attack by Russian Navy ships.[5] The cruiser Moskva and patrol ship Vasily Bykov bombarded the island with their deck guns.[6]

External video
YouTube logo
video icon ‘Go fuck yourself’, Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island tell Russian ship – audio on YouTube - via The Guardian

When the Russian warship identified itself and instructed the Ukrainian soldiers stationed on the island to surrender, their response was "Russian warship, go fuck yourself!" (Russian: 'Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй', tr. Russky voyenny korabl, idi na khuy).[7][8] An audio clip of the exchange was first shared by Ukrainian government official Anton Herashchenko,[9] then widely distributed by the Ukrayinska Pravda, and later verified as authentic by Ukrainian government sources.[10][11]

One Ukrainian soldier live-streamed the moment that the Russian warship opened fire.[12] Later in the evening, the State Border Guard Service said that communication with the island had been lost.[13] At 22:00 (01:00 Moscow Time, UTC+2), service officials announced that Russian forces had captured the island following a naval and air bombardment that destroyed all infrastructure on the island.[14][15] After the bombardment, a detachment of Russian soldiers landed and took control of Snake Island.[16]

The Russian government reported that on 25 February 2022, a squadron of sixteen boats of the Ukrainian Navy attacked Russian vessels off Snake Island, also claiming that it sank six of the Ukrainian boats.[17] The Russian government further accused the United States of providing intelligence support to the Ukrainian squadron during the action. The United States denied any involvement.[18]

On 26 February 2022, Ukrainian authorities announced that the civilian search and rescue ship Sapphire was captured by the Russian navy off Snake Island.[19]

Reporting

Ukrainian government sources initially stated that 13 border guards, representing the entirety of the Ukrainian military presence on the island, were killed after refusing to surrender.[20][21]

Russian defence media presented an alternative version of events, claiming that 82 Ukrainian soldiers had been taken prisoner after surrendering voluntarily,[11] and had been taken to Sevastopol.[22] Russian ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed that the prisoners had been signing pledges promising not to continue military action against Russia, and would be released soon.[23]

The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine later announced that the guards might instead have been captured,[24] based on the Russian reports that they were being held as prisoners of war.[25] On 27 February it issued a statement saying that they believed "that all Ukrainian defenders of Zmiiniy Island may be alive".[22] On 28 February 2022, the Ukrainian Navy posted on its Facebook page that all the border guards of the island were alive and detained by the Russian Navy.[26][27]

Reaction

See also: Russian warship, go fuck yourself

The Ukrainian border guards' final communication before the attack, "Russian warship, go fuck yourself!", went viral and became a rallying cry for Ukrainians and their supporters around the world.[28] The Week compared the phrase to "Remember the Alamo" from the 19th century Texas Revolution.[29]

On the day of the attack, before it was known that the guards survived, Zelenskyy announced that all thirteen of them would posthumously be awarded the title Hero of Ukraine, the highest Ukrainian military honor.[8]

In March 2022, the Ukrainian government announced that a postage stamp honoring the soldiers on Snake Island would be released. Through public vote, a young man's design of a Ukrainian soldier standing on a beach and giving the finger to a passing Russian warship, was the most voted, and selected.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Zubkova, Dasha (24 February 2022). "Zmiinyi Island In Black Sea Attacked From Russian Ships – Border Service". Ukrainian News Agency. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  2. ^ Reich, Aaron. "13 Ukraine soldiers tell Russia 'go f*** yourself' in defiant last stand". The Jerusalem Post. ISSN 0021-597X. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b van Brugen, Isabel (25 February 2022). "Ukraine soldiers tell Russia "go f*** yourself" before being killed in chilling audio". Newsweek. ISSN 0028-9604. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  4. ^ Veselova, Viktoriya (25 January 2022). Острів, де планували деокупацію Криму: як виглядав Зміїний до війни з Росією [The island where the deoccupation of Crimea was planned: what Zmiiny looked like before the war with Russia]. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  5. ^ Cathal [@PokiRae_] (24 February 2022). "Ukrainian soldier deployed on Snake Island live streamed the moment a Russian warship opened fire on the Island" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "Russian Navy Captures Ukraine's Outpost on Snake Island". The Maritime Executive. 24 February 2022. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  7. ^ Romanenko, Valentina (25 February 2022). "Русский корабль, иди на х.й!": захисники Зміїного відповіли ворогові ["Russian ship, go fuck yourself": Defenders of the Serpent responded to the enemy]. Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). OCLC 1066371688. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  8. ^ a b Lister, Tim; Pennington, Josh (24 February 2022). "Audio emerges appearing to be of Ukrainian fighters defending island from Russian warship". CNN. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  9. ^ @Pravda_Gerashchenko. Русский корабль предлагает гарнизону острова Змеиный сдаться. Был послан на хуй !. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022 – via Telegram.
  10. ^ Lamothe, Dan; Sonne, Paul. "On Ukraine's Snake Island, a defiant last stand against Russian forces". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  11. ^ a b Singh, Namita (25 February 2022). "'Russian warship, go f**k yourself': the defiant last words of 13 Ukrainian soldiers". The Independent. ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  12. ^ Slisco, Aila (24 February 2022). "One of 13 killed on Ukrainian island live-streamed attack". Newsweek. ISSN 0028-9604. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  13. ^ Ziezulewicz, Geoff (25 February 2022). "Ukrainians trapped on Snake Island to the Russians demanding their surrender: 'go f*ck yourself.'". Navy Times. ISSN 0028-1697. OCLC 03511129. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  14. ^ Острів Зміїний захопили російські окупанти – ДПСУ [Snake Island was captured by the Russian occupiers – SBGS]. Gazeta.ua. 24 February 2022. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  15. ^ Hallam, Johnny (24 February 2022). "Ukraine's State Border Guard says island south of country's coast falls into Russian hands". CNN. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  16. ^ Visontay, Elias (25 February 2022). "Ukraine soldiers told Russian officer 'go fuck yourself' before they died on island". The Guardian. eISSN 1756-3224. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 60623878. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Ukraine's boats attack ships evacuating Ukrainian troops who surrendered on Snake Island". TASS. 27 February 2022. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  18. ^ Vogt, Adrienne (26 February 2022). "Pentagon denies Russia's claim that it's "highly likely" US used surveillance drones to help Ukrainian navy". CNN. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  19. ^ Boyko, Ivan. Россия захватила гражданское спасательное судно у острова Змеиный [Russia seizes civilian rescue ship off Zmeiny Island] (in Russian). Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  20. ^ "Ukraine's Snake Island under attack, border guards took up defense". Ukrinform. 24 February 2022. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  21. ^ BNO News [@BNONews] (24 February 2022). "13 Ukrainian border guards killed in Russian take-over of Snake Island in the Black Sea, near the Romanian border - official" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ a b "Ukrainian border guards could still be alive after Russian attack on Snake Island, authorities say, amid conflicting accounts". ABC News (Australian TV channel). Reuters. 28 February 2022. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  23. ^ Dean, Jeff (25 February 2022). "Russian warship tells Ukrainian soldiers to surrender. They profanely refuse". NPR. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  24. ^ Shukla, Sebastian (26 February 2022). "Defenders of Ukrainian island may still be alive and now POWs, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine says". CNN. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  25. ^ Lamothe, Dan. "Ukrainian border guards may have survived reported last stand on Snake Island". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  26. ^ "Snake Island: Ukraine says troops who swore at Russian warship are alive". BBC News. 28 February 2022.
  27. ^ Reich, Aaron (28 February 2022). "Ukrainian Navy confirms Snake Island soldiers are alive, POWs". The Jerusalem Post. ISSN 0021-597X. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  28. ^ Ziezulewicz, Geoff (25 February 2022). "Ukrainians trapped on Snake Island to the Russians demanding their surrender: 'go f*ck yourself.'". Navy Times. ISSN 0028-1697. OCLC 03511129. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  29. ^ Weber, Peter. "How 'Russian warship, go f—k yourself' became Ukraine's 'Remember the Alamo!'". The Week. ISSN 1533-8304. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  30. ^ Patterson, Callie (14 March 2022). "Ukraine launches postage stamp | NYPost honoring Snake Island soldiers". New York Post. Retrieved 15 March 2022.

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