This makes the strategically located Snake Island an example of Ukrainian resistance that pays off for the third time since the invasion, despite the overwhelming Russian military superiority.
First there was the Ukrainian soldier who, on the first day of the war, said ‘Russian warship, get the clothes on’ to the crew of a Russian ship that insisted on surrender. About two months later, Kyiv’s sweet revenge followed with the destruction of that same ship, the Moskva.
Moscow is now doing everything possible to prevent the withdrawal from being seen as yet another humiliation of the invading army. The remarkable step, according to the Kremlin, is ‘a gesture of goodwill’ to enable the export of Ukrainian grain from the important port city of Odesa. After all, whoever owns Snake Island largely controls the sailing route to Odesa, some 130 kilometers away.
Victory
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the military on Friday celebrated the withdrawal as a major strategic victory. “This considerably limits the actions of the occupiers,” said Zelensky. ‘Step by step we will push them back from our sea, our land and our airspace.’ The army reported that “the enemy hurriedly evacuated the last soldiers of the garrison with two speedboats.”
The Kremlin’s words cannot hide the fact that the presence of Russian soldiers on the island had become untenable. Especially now that more and more modern Western weapons are appearing on the battlefield. Since the beginning of June, the Ukrainians have had the advanced US anti-ship missile Harpoon and the Russian Black Sea fleet has to watch out for it.
This missile, supplied by Denmark, can attack Russian ships up to 200 kilometers from the Ukrainian coast. “We have now received so many Harpoons that we can sink the entire Black Sea fleet,” a military spokesman in Odesa threatened. The Russian Navy immediately took the threat posed by the Harpoon seriously and has been operating far away from the coast ever since.
No coverage
This move made supplying the soldiers on Snake Island more difficult. The Russians only dared to go to the island with small patrol boats and landing craft. Buoyed by the successful attack in April on the flagship Moskva, which was hit by a Ukrainian-made Neptune cruise missile, Kyiv then did everything possible to make life impossible for the Russians on Snake Island.
On the flat island, which is about 660 by 440 meters in size, the soldiers can barely take cover. Air strikes increased markedly in May, especially with the Bayraktar drone supplied by Turkey. For example, on May 7, the Ukrainian army released a video showing a Bayraktar with an anti-tank missile hitting a Serna landing craft at the small pier. Soldiers also run away from a building that is hit shortly afterwards.
Fired with howitzer
The Ukrainian air force, which has still not been destroyed by the Russians, is even being deployed by Kyiv to chase away the Russian soldiers. For example, two Soukhoi-27 fighters flew in from the south in early May, after which Russian positions were bombarded with bombs. A Bayraktar filmed the daring attack, which could not be prevented by Russian air defenses.
Russia was forced by these attacks to fortify and secure the garrison. For example, the Ukrainian army reported early last month that the Russians had placed anti-aircraft batteries and an MLRS missile system on Snake Island. But these weapons can do nothing against artillery fire that the Ukrainians deploy.
Because the island is 35 kilometers from the coast, it is vulnerable to howitzers, among other things. A video released by the military this week shows that Snake Island was bombarded with a Ukrainian howitzer, the Bohdana. A Bayraktar in the air helped to aim the artillery unit properly. A grenade landed in the sea, but then it rained heavily on Russian positions. More than a week later, Moscow suddenly announced that the Russian soldiers had left the island.