The Ukrainian Navy released new information regarding the fate of 13 border guards who were on a deserted island, which previous reports said were They died after refusing to surrender to the Russian forces.
The incident took place in the early hours of the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when a small group of Ukrainian border guards on the island of “Snake” received a message warning them of the worst, urging them to either surrender or be attacked.
According to the widely circulated audio recordings, a Russian warship sent a message to the 13 soldiers: “We are a Russian warship… We ask you to lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid needless bloodshed and death, or else you will be bombed.”
Here is the audio of the Snake Island encounter between Russian and Ukrainian navy vessels translated to English.
May the 13 brave Ukrainian heroes rest in power.
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— KnowNothing (@KnowNothingTV) February 25, 2022
The answer was shocking and unexpected to the Russians when the Ukrainians boldly responded, “Russian warship, go to hell.” Then the Russians opened fire, killing 13 of them, according to reports at the time.
At the time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the island’s defenders would be given the title “Hero of Ukraine”, the highest honor a Ukrainian leader can bestow.
However, days later, the Ukrainian border guards said that they had information that questioned the validity of the killing of border guards.
A statement issued by the Navy, on Monday, indicated that they are “alive and in good health”, and said that they repelled two attacks by the Russian forces, but in the end were forced to surrender “due to a lack of ammunition.”
Russian state media showed the Ukrainian soldiers arriving in Sevastopol in the Crimea, where they are being held.
The Ukrainian Navy statement said that Russian forces had completely destroyed the island’s infrastructure, including lighthouses, towers and antennas.
Snake Island is located about 48 kilometers south of the Ukrainian mainland in the northwest of the Black Sea, and about 250 kilometers west of Crimea, the area occupied by Russia in 2014.