Moscow says it has pulled out to make it easier for UN to set up humanitarian corridors that allow grain exports
A rocky area of 0.17 square kilometers has become the most desired target of the war in Ukraine. Snake Island is considered a strategic military point by both the Kiev and Moscow governments. Therefore they dispute it with blood and fire. His control means command of sea, land and air in the northwestern Black Sea and southern Ukraine, with the important port city of Odessa within artillery range.
Russia, which occupied it four months ago despite the fierce resistance of the Ukrainian squad defending it, has had to give up in what President Volodymyr Zelensky considers a major victory for his troops and a strong progress in the fight to end the blockade of grain. terminate exports.
They justify their withdrawal from Moscow as a “goodwill gesture” showing that they intend not to hinder the United Nations’ efforts to organize a humanitarian corridor that would allow the export of Ukrainian grain. “This decision will prevent Kiev from speculating about an impending food crisis, due to the impossibility of exporting grain due to Russia’s total control of the northwestern part of the Black Sea,” said Igor Konashenkov, the spokesman for the Kremlin’s Ministry of Defense. .
The Ukrainian version, however, maintains that they drove out Russian forces after a massive artillery attack last night. “There are no more Russian troops on Snake Island. Our armed forces have done an amazing job,” Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, tweeted. “The enemy rushed to evacuate the remains of the garrison with two speedboats,” he added.
The military command of Southern Ukraine has published on Facebook an image of what appeared to be the island, seen from the air, with five huge columns of black smoke rising above it, which would correspond to the attack with rockets and artillery.
At 662 meters long and 440 meters wide, Snake Island housed Russian air defense complexes, three units of missile artillery systems, a group of speedboats and special forces, according to the Ministry of Military Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR).
Russia occupied the area in the early days of the war, and it was there that a Ukrainian guard gave the order to surrender over the radio with his middle finger raised: “Russian warship: go to hell.” The incident was immortalized on a Ukrainian postage stamp, which was issued the same day his army sank the Russian flagship, the ‘Moskva’, in the Black Sea.
Source: La Verdad
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
