Ukrainian Guards On Snake Island Killed By Russian Naval Ships On 24 Feb
While Russia advances its presence in Ukraine, it is not without faithful resistance from unyielding citizens.
One of Ukraine’s island territories in the Black Sea, Snake Island, became the stage of a tense faceoff between a Russian warship and Ukrainian soldiers.
Audio clips of the confrontation surfaced on social media, featuring the voices of what seem to be Russian forces and Ukrainian soldiers.
The 13 heroes of #UKRAINE 🇺🇦 army soldiers who were stationed on snake island in the audio, one says ‘This is it ‘ they are heard telling #Russian warship to go ‘fuck yourself’ all died defending just 25 miles away from #NATO Territory #Ukrainian #UkraineInvasion #RussianArmy pic.twitter.com/fDdCVuc0Cz
— Bahaka (@Petebahaka) February 25, 2022
After the Russians warned the soldiers to lay their arms down and surrender, the Ukrainians defiantly told them to “f*** off”.
Their unwillingness to submit to the Russians was lauded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who championed them as heroes.
Ukrainian guards explicitly defied Russian orders to surrender
According to CNN, 2 Russian naval vessels had approached Zmiinyi or Snake Island, along the southeast border of Ukraine.
The Russian Navy sounded a warning to soldiers standing guard, imploring them to surrender their weapons and yield. Refusal to comply would result in gunfire.
In response, one of the Ukrainian guards in the clip says, “This is it,” before asking a fellow guard if he should tell them to “f*** himself”.
With much dignity, the guard proceeded to nonchalantly tell the Russian Navy, “Russian warship, go f*** yourself”.
What transpired after this exchange is unclear. However, another clip shows one of the Ukrainian guards live streaming seconds before the first gunshot.
Ukraine president lauds guards as heroes
In his first address following the first day of attacks, President Zelensky mentioned the courage that the guards had shown.
Business Insider quoted his words to the press that,
On our Zmiinyi Island, defending it to the last, all the border guards died heroically. But [they] did not give up.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) also confirmed on Twitter that they will be awarding each of the 13 soldiers with the title “Hero of Ukraine” posthumously.
Hope the conflict will end peacefully soon
While armed conflict is the last thing anyone would want, we salute the brave soldiers for standing their ground and defending their country.
Our condolences go to the soldiers’ families, and to all who have lost loved ones.
We hope that this conflict will come to a peaceful end soon, to avoid further death and destruction.
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Featured image adapted from location4film.
