Russian forces withdrew from Snake Island in the Black Sea in a move that Ukraine hailed as a victory, and Russia said it had shown that Moscow was not seeking to thwart UN efforts to set up a corridor for Ukrainian food exports. The Ukrainian military claimed on Thursday that it had forced the Russians to flee in two small speedboats following a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile raids. Snake Island is a rocky outcrop overlooking the sea lanes to Odessa, Ukraine’s main Black Sea port, where Russia blocks food exports from one of the world’s leading grain suppliers. “The most important aspect is that this could open the door to Ukrainian grain exports from Odessa, which is crucial for the Ukrainian economy and global food supply,” said Rob Lee of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, based in the United States. Lifting the blockade of Ukrainian ports was a primary goal of the West. But several military experts have said that driving the Russians through Snake Island alone would not be enough to unblock the ports. Russia could even intercept cargo ships at sea. Here are five things you need to know about the island and its strategic importance.
Battle for the Black Sea
A rocky outbreak about 35 km (22 miles) off the southwestern tip of Ukraine, Snake Island is located near the Danube Delta and near the maritime border with NATO member Romania. It has strategic value for controlling the northwestern Black Sea, its coastal cities and the shipping lanes that are part of the global grain supply chain. Russia’s withdrawal from the island could ease its blockade on Ukrainian exports that feed some of the world’s poorest countries.
Achilles and the Trojan War
The stories about the island date back thousands of years to the mythological Trojan War of the ancient Greeks. Snake Island has a long relationship with Achilles, the great warrior in Greek myth who is considered invincible but for a vulnerable spot on his heel.
Ukrainian disobedience
Covering just 0.17 square kilometers (0.07 square miles), about the size of 20 football fields, Snake Island gained worldwide fame in the early hours of the Russian invasion on February 24, when Ukrainian border guards stationed there rejected a request. Russian warship for their delivery. “Russian warship, go alone,” said a Ukrainian soldier. The refusal to surrender was immortalized on a Ukrainian stamp. On the day the stamp was issued, Ukraine sank the same Russian ship, the Moskva, which had demanded the surrender of the island and which was the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
The slip of Russia
Last month, the UK Department of Defense said that if Russia were able to consolidate its commitment to Snake Island with air defense and coastal cruise missiles, it could dominate the northwestern Black Sea. Russia had been defending the island since February, but Ukraine was increasingly claiming to have caused serious damage by sinking supply ships and destroying Russian fortifications on the island. New weapons sent by the West have made the Russian guard on Snake Island even more vulnerable, especially the US-supplied High Mobility Missile System (HIMARS), which Ukraine began using last week.
Conflict with Romania
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) designed a new maritime border between Romania and Ukraine in 2009 to settle a dispute centered around Snake Island over parts of the Black Sea believed to have significant oil and gas reserves. At the time, Ukraine said Snake Island was inhabited and economically active, with about 100 people living there, including the military, lighthouse keepers, scientists and their families.
