RRussia no longer controls the strategically important Snake Island in the Black Sea. The Defense Ministry in Moscow has confirmed the withdrawal from the island, which was occupied by Russian troops on the first day of the February 24 invasion of Ukraine. However, it presented the withdrawal of the Russian troops as a “sign of goodwill”. This would demonstrate to the international community that Russia is not hindering the efforts of the United Nations to organize a humanitarian corridor for the export of agricultural products from Ukraine. According to a statement by the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukraine can no longer use the presence of Russian troops as a reason for not exporting grain across the Black Sea.
According to the Ukrainian military, the withdrawal of Russian troops from the island was forced by numerous massive artillery strikes over the past ten days, during which several “Panzir” anti-aircraft missile systems were destroyed. On June 17, Ukrainian forces sunk a Russian Navy supply ship en route to Snake Island, apparently intended to bring a missile system there.
The island, which is only 0.2 square kilometers in size, is located off the Danube Delta directly on the border between the waters of Ukraine and Romania. Control over them, according to military experts, allows extensive control over the north-western part of the Black Sea and the airspace in southern Ukraine. The Ukrainian military has announced that it will soon be sending its own soldiers to the island again.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the latest prisoner swaps with Russia, in which 144 soldiers and other prisoners each returned home on Wednesday night. Selenskyi spoke of “optimistic and very important news”. As a result of the exchange that took place on Wednesday evening, 59 members of the National Guard were released, including fighters from the former nationalist regiment “Azov”. 30 marines, as well as other soldiers, border guards, members of the territorial defense and a police officer were also released. They are between the ages of 19 and 65, and one woman is said to be among them. It was the largest exchange of prisoners since the attack in late February.
More than 6000 prisoners in Russian hands
Those released also included 95 defenders of the “Azovstal” steelworks, the last stronghold of the Ukrainians in the port city of Mariupol before it was taken by the Russians after more than two months of shelling in mid-May. “We will do everything to bring every Ukrainian home,” Zelensky said. He thanked everyone involved, especially the military intelligence service of Ukraine, which has been responsible for exchanges of this kind on the Kiev side since the end of May.
The secret service and representatives of the family association of defenders of “Azovstal” distributed photos and videos of the exchange on Facebook. They showed soldiers with crutches and armbands in front of ambulances and buses in a rural parking lot. Most of those released are said to be injured, and some are said to have had limbs amputated. Artur Lypka, one of the Ukrainians traded for free, told the camera he was still “overwhelmed with emotions”. During the long drive from the east to the exchange location, the prisoners feared that the exchange would fail at the last moment.