Ukraine, 25th February 2022: The Ukrainian army and the Russian army are fighting after Russia invaded Ukraine. A clip of both sides fighting on Snake Island has gone viral. Ukrainian soldiers were present on Snake Island when a Russian warship arrived and asked the 13 soldiers to surrender. But after the Ukrainian soldiers refused to do so, the Russian army killed them all.
Snake Island, also known as Jminyi Island, is located in the Black Sea south of Odesa. In conversations before the Russian attack on the island, the Russian side warns the island’s soldiers, suggesting they surrender their weapons or they will be killed. After a few seconds, the Ukrainian soldiers respond by saying ‘Go to hell’. The video ends soon after.
However, reports and the Ukrainian government have confirmed the death of those Ukrainian soldiers by Russian soldiers on that island.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry tweeted, “Russia blatantly captured Ukrainian island #Zmiinyi, destroying the infrastructure. All 13 border guards were killed, refusing to surrender. They will be awarded the title «Hero of Ukraine» postmortem, says @ZelenskyyUa Glory to Ukrainian heroes!”
According to media reports, Russia has deployed about two lakh soldiers on the Ukraine border. Russia intensified its attack on Ukraine from the late night of 23 February. The Russian Defense Ministry has said that Russia is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure, air defence facilities, military airfields and Ukrainian aircraft. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had disabled Ukraine’s air defences and air bases and that the Russian military destroyed more than 70 military bases.
Ukrainian officials said that some civilians have been targeted by Russia and that Russian forces have seized a former nuclear power plant in Chernobyl.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that at least 137 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have been killed. Ukrainian officials said Russia had lost two helicopters and seven planes in the war.
Ukraine’s defence ministry says its armed forces have killed nearly 800 Russian forces since the start of the military operation. The ministry said more than 30 Russian tanks were destroyed, along with seven Russian planes and six helicopters.