Ukraine has hope: Snake Island defenders may still be alive | Abroad

The Ukrainian Border Security Service expresses this hope on Facebook. “Border guards, armed forces and all of Ukraine hope that all defenders of Snake Island are still alive. Russian media reported that Ukrainian soldiers on the island had been transferred to Russian-occupied Sevastopol. Sevastopol is located on the Crimean peninsula, already occupied by the Russians.

According to the border guard, the defenders of the small Black Sea island west of Crimea were killed, mainly due to the loss of contact with the defenders immediately after the shelling. The Russian navy opened fire on February 24 after border guards dismissively responded to a call for surrender. The bombardments destroyed all the infrastructure of the island.

According to information available at the time, the infrastructure was destroyed and the island was taken, but now there are indications that the defenders are still alive. The heroic attitude of the defenders is exemplary of the attitude of the Ukrainian people, according to the border guard. “So far, the enemy has repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to intimidate the Ukrainian defenders into surrendering and got only one correct answer: no one will surrender.”