Last week audio of Ukrainian border guards at Zmiinyi Island, also known as Snake Island, telling Russian soldiers “go f*** yourself” went viral. At the time officials, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, believed they were dead.
As of Monday, the Ukrainian Navy confirmed that the 13 soldiers are, in fact, alive and well.
According to a translated Facebook post, the sailors rebuked two attacks from Russian invaders before surrendering. CNN reported that the guards surrendered when they ran out of ammunition.
In addition to capturing the Snake Island soldiers, Russian forces illegally captured a civilian ship carrying out a humanitarian mission and destroyed the island’s infrastructure, said the Ukrainian Navy.
“We demand from Russia the immediate release of illegally occupied citizens of Ukraine,” said the Facebook post. “We address the world community, to the believers of all churches requesting to take all possible measures to influence the Russian Federation for the return of our citizens.”
Russian state media also showed Ukrainian soldiers arriving in Sevastopol, Crimea where they are being held, said CNN.
Snake Island is located in the Black Sea, around 30 miles away from the Ukrainian mainland. It’s about 185 miles west of Crimea, Ukrainian territory that Russia took over in 2014. It has a population of less than 100 people.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Snake Island was the site of the Battle of Fidonisi in 1788 and was home to an Axis radio station during World War II when it was under Romanian control. The island has a strategic position in the Black Sea and it connects a shipping corridor that includes Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kherson.
In the unverified audio exchange shared by Ukrainian news outlet Ukrayinska Pravda, the Ukrainian Snake Island guards said “Russian warship, go f*** yourself,” after being ordered to stand down or face bombing.
When they were presumed dead last week, Zelensky announced the guards would be each be named a “Hero of Ukraine,” the country’s highest honor.
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