In late February, Snake Island, a small island west of Crimea, was attacked by Russia. At the time, 13 Ukrainian soldiers were present on the island as border guards, who refused to surrender.
The Russian naval vessel warned: “I suggest that you lay down your weapons immediately and surrender to avoid bloodshed and deaths. Otherwise you will be bombed.” This warning was to no avail, however, as the response from the Ukrainian soldiers was equally clear: “Go and fuck yourself”.
Initially it was thought that the soldiers died shortly afterwards, as a result of the Russian bombs and shelling. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the border guards would be posthumously honored as “Heroes of Ukraine,” the country’s highest award. It is not clear whether he knew at the time that they were still alive or assumed they had been killed. After all, a little later it became clear that the border guards had been captured by Russia.
The Ukrainian soldiers who survived, including Hrybov, are now back in Ukraine. There the latter received a medal for the brave resistance against Russia.
