This is the dramatic moment Ukrainian special forces storm Snake Island in a daring operation to liberate the key Black Sea outpost from Putin’s humiliated troops.
Ukrainian secret services have released previously unseen footage marking the second anniversary of their special forces’ assault on Snake Island, which prompted Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea outpost.
In the dramatic video, the island is seen being hit by aerial bombs before an assault by helicopters, with soldiers firing from above before being dropped off near the outpost.
Front-facing camera footage shows troops firing at enemy soldiers to liberate the remote but strategically important island, giving a major boost to the Ukrainian resistance.
Russian forces claimed they had withdrawn in a “goodwill gesture” but were actually forced to leave.
Ukrainian secret services have released previously unseen footage marking the second anniversary of their special forces’ assault on Snake Island, which prompted Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea outpost.
Ukrainian troops were flown to the key Black Sea outpost to liberate the island. In the image above, soldiers shoot at enemy troops on the island before they leave them.
Front-facing camera footage shows troops firing at enemy soldiers to liberate the remote but strategically important island, giving a major boost to the Ukrainian resistance.
The final liberation was on June 30, 2022, and there are Russian claims that this assault was a precursor to the final liberation on May 7.
The Kyiv Independent stated: “The occupation of Snake Island effectively allowed Russian forces to launch a blockade of the Black Sea ports of Odesa and direct missile attacks on Ukraine until April 14, 2022, when Ukraine successfully sank the Mosvka, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.”
Snake Island, or Zmiyinyi, in the Black Sea made headlines early in the war when its heroic defenders radioed an approaching Russian cruiser to “Fuck off.”
Ukrainian defenders on the island spent more than 800 days in Russian captivity.
Nineteen heroic Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island were freed on May 31 in a prisoner-of-war exchange with Russia.
In the dramatic video, the island is seen being attacked by aerial bombs before an assault by helicopters, with soldiers firing from above before being dropped off near the outpost.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits Zmiiny (Snake) Island to pay tribute to defenders on the 500th day of Vladimir Putin’s war against his country
The strategic rock outcrop was visited by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after its liberation.
Ukrainian intelligence services said the operation on Snake Island was “unique and extremely important.”
It was an initial phase of one of the key successes of the war for Ukraine: limiting Russian naval operations in the western sector of the Black Sea.
This allowed the UN and Turkey to broker the Black Sea Grains Initiative, which resumed exports of grain and other agricultural products to the rest of the world.