The ministry said the move showed that Russia was not obstructing the United Nations (UN) efforts to set up a humanitarian corridor to export agricultural products from Ukraine. The tiny outburst, which was captured by Russia on the first day of its invasion, gained worldwide fame when Ukrainian border guards initially stationed resisted the demand for a Russian warship to surrender. Ukraine denied the withdrawal was a gesture of goodwill, saying Russian forces had been repulsed. Boris Johnson, at the NATO summit in Madrid, praised the “amazing ability of the Ukrainians to counterattack, overcome adversity and repel the Russians.” The head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Twitter: “KABOOM! There are no more Russian troops on Snake Island. “The Armed Forces have done an excellent job for us.” Ukraine’s southern military administration wrote on Facebook that after a successful operation involving missile and artillery units, Russian forces had evacuated Snake Island in two boats. View of the island of snakes on Thursday (Reuters) Snake Island became infamous when a group of Ukrainian soldiers defending the island told a Russian warship “go fight alone”. The Russian soldiers on board told the guards to drop their weapons or be “bombed”, according to audio transcripts of the incident, which were obtained from local media and shared online. Two Ukrainian guards are heard making a brief exchange of views, saying: “Tell them to go alone?” – before answering with the following: “Russian warship, go alone”. An earlier statement from Ukraine claimed that they had been killed in air and naval strikes, which Russia has denied, saying troops had surrendered. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine stated that the recording was authentic. The participating Ukrainian soldier, Roman Khrimov, was awarded a medal in March for his services. Initial reports said 13 border guards on the island had died after refusing to surrender, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying that every guard would be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine. But a few days later, Ukraine’s state border guard said the soldiers were still alive and had been captured by Russia. Mr Hrybov is now at his home in Cherkasy and has shared a video showing Mr Hrybov receiving a medal for his actions from local authorities. Snake Island off the Black Sea was one of the first areas to be attacked by Russia (Alamy) Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said that the Ukrainian-made Bohdana shells played an important role in the expulsion of Russian forces and thanked foreign partners for their support. The loss of the island gives Ukraine more leeway to use military drones and operate in the western Black Sea, but is unlikely to help ease the crisis over Ukraine’s embargoed grain, Kiev-based analysts said. Ukrainian soldier Roman Hrybov, captured by Russian troops on Snake Island, awarded a medal for his services (Reuters) It was also unlikely that Ukraine itself would take up positions and deploy anti-ship weapons on the island to try to bolster its shoreline defenses because the island remained within the firing range of Russian forces, said Oleg Zhdanov, a military analyst based in Kyiv. he said. Mathieu Boulegue, an analyst at Chatham House, said Russia’s withdrawal could be part of a plan to allow the Kremlin to bolster its military presence elsewhere in the Black Sea. “We should not be fooled by this. It may be a short-term relief, but there will be long-term pain.”
