On February 24, the first day of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops occupied Snake Island, a small but strategically important outpost in the Black Sea about 70 nautical miles south of Odessa. The 13 Ukrainian troops stationed there were reported to have “twice bravely repulsed the attacks of the Russian occupiers” but were unable to continue fighting because they ran out of ammunition.
Pictures of Ukrainian defenders defiantly giving a Russian warship the finger and audio of them telling it to “go fuck yourself” went viral. The defenders were believed to have all been killed and were posthumously honoured by the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky – but have subsequently been reported to have survived. https://www.youtube.com/embed/x81SP-6Rzk8?wmode=transparent&start=0
So when it was reported on June 30 that Ukraine had retaken Snake Island, it was an enormous and much-needed morale boost. And, as the war on land drags on, this success at sea has strategic implications far beyond the Black Sea that will resonate in the months, or even years, to come.
“Russia secured a crucial piece of the puzzle that enabled Moscow to exercise control over the northwestern Black Sea”
By taking Snake Island so early in the invasion, Russia secured a crucial piece of the puzzle that enabled Moscow to exercise control over the northwestern Black Sea. For Moscow, this was of operational and strategic importance for three reasons. It meant that the Russian Navy could contribute to the bombardment of Ukraine with cruise missiles. Meanwhile it gave the invaders the ability to threaten Odessa with an amphibious assault and enabled them to deny access to and from Ukrainian ports – in other words, to blockade Ukraine.
