The Ukrainian Border Security Service expressed this hope on Facebook. “Border guards, armed forces and all of Ukraine hope that all defenders of Snake Island are still alive. Russian media reported that Ukrainian soldiers on the island have been transferred to the Russian-occupied city of Sevastopol.” Sevastopol is located in the Crimea, which was already occupied by the Russians.
According to the border guards, the defenders of the small island in the Black Sea west of Crimea were killed, and this was mainly fueled by the loss of contact with the defenders immediately after the bombing. The Russian Navy opened fire on February 24 after border guards responded contemptuously to a call to surrender. The bombing destroyed all the infrastructure on the island.
According to the information available at the time, the infrastructure was destroyed and the island was captured, but now there are indications that the defenders are still alive. The heroic stance of the defenders is typical of the attitude of the Ukrainian people, according to the border guards. “So far, the enemy has repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to intimidate the Ukrainian defenders with his demands to surrender and got only one correct answer – no one will surrender.”
