Placeholder while loading article actions
RIGA, Latvia – Russian forces say they have withdrawn from the island of Ukraine’s snakes, a hotly contested piece of land in the Black Sea they captured shortly after the war began, and presents a small but strategic victory for Ukraine.
His withdrawal provided a welcome moral boost to Ukraine, as a bloody and forceful struggle continues in the east, where artillery exchanges and shifting control of the vital terrain have produced few recent victories.
On Thursday, President Biden said at a NATO meeting in Madrid that the United States would commit $ 800 million more in security assistance to Ukraine, in addition to the billions provided by its allies and Europeans and noting the that analysts believe will be a sustained conflict. Biden also announced an increase in the U.S. military presence in Eastern Europe, although part of that move was considered months and years before the invasion.
The alliance will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” said Biden, who pledged to “defend every inch of NATO territory.” Before the war, he had warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that an invasion of Ukraine would only make NATO stronger. “That’s exactly what we’re seeing today,” he said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry framed the withdrawal of Snake Island as a “gesture of goodwill” and an effort to create a humanitarian corridor for the export of agricultural products such as Ukrainian grain. However, officials in the nearby port city of Odessa in southern Ukraine said Russian troops had evacuated only after lengthy missile and artillery attacks by Ukrainian forces.
Snake Island, also known as Zmiinyi Island, is located about 25 miles off the south coast and is a critical outpost for controlling shipping routes for Ukrainian grain exports and access to Odessa’s key port.
Attached by
Russia a
2014
Source: Maxar via Google Earth
Attached by
Russia a
2014
Source: Maxar via Google Earth
Attached by
Russia in 2014
Source: Maxar via Google Earth
“On June 30, as a gesture of goodwill, the Russian Armed Forces completed their assigned tasks on Snake Island and withdrew the garrison stationed there,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. .
“[We] demonstrated to the world community that the Russian Federation does not interfere in UN efforts to organize a humanitarian corridor for the export of agricultural products from the territory of Ukraine. “
Africa’s desperate famine: Ukraine’s war pushes Somalia into famine
The Russian army has previously described the withdrawal of Kyiv and other parts of central Ukraine as “gestures of goodwill” after facing strong resistance from Ukrainian forces and heavy losses.
The Defense Ministry added in its statement on Thursday that “now it’s up to Ukraine” to clean up its mining ports and resume grain shipments.
The war has cut off vital waterways, leaving tons of Ukrainian agricultural products stranded in silos. Western leaders accused Moscow of holding “hostage” countries with food insecurity by disrupting supply and contributing to world hunger.
Moscow responded by saying it would not prevent grain shipments or use the withdrawal of mines from ports as an opportunity to renew an attack on Odessa, but Ukrainian officials have been wary of such guarantees.
Western analysts described Russia’s expulsion from Snake Island as a symbolic and strategic victory for Kyiv. For Russian forces, Mason Clark told the Institute for the Study of War, it was “a major defeat.” The Kremlin, he noted, needed the island to “threaten the sea route to Odessa along the Romanian coast, which is the safest way for ships to bypass the Russian blockade of grain and other Ukrainian exports.”
However, Jeffrey Edmonds, a senior analyst at the Center for Naval Analyzes, a Virginia-based think tank, said that while the loss of Snake Island has removed some Russian capabilities from the equation, its navy still it can threaten trade with warships and submarines.
“Militarily, it has weakened the blockade,” he said, “but it is not essential to the blockade.”
At just 0.06 square miles, Snake Island made headlines in the early days of the war when the crew of a Russian warship ordered a small team of Ukrainian border guards to surrender or face off. to an attack. The Ukrainians responded with a profane insult, and caused the Russians to open fire.
At first it was thought that the resisters had been killed, but later it was said that they had been taken prisoner. His challenge has been celebrated all over Ukraine on stamps and posters and has been hailed as a time of concentration in defense of his country.
Ukraine’s armed forces on Thursday confirmed Russia’s withdrawal on its Facebook page and thanked fighters in nearby Odessa for helping to reclaim “strategically important” territory.
“KABOOM! There are no more Russian troops on Snake Island. Our Armed Forces did a great job, “tweeted Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
KABOOM!
There are no more Russian troops on Snake Island. Our Armed Forces did a great job. More Kaboom news to follow. Everything will be 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/ItdP3oQvHK
– Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) June 30, 2022
The Ukrainian army has recently been on a renewed mission to retake the island and has launched multiple attacks on Russian forces there.
Last week, the operational command of southern Ukraine said it had used “targeted attacks with the use of various forces” on Snake Island, causing “significant losses” among Russian troops and the destruction of systems. of Russian air defense, radars and vehicles.
The announcement of the Russian withdrawal came just days after Moscow boasted it had repelled Ukrainian attacks by destroying more than a dozen drones and 21 incoming missiles. The Washington Post was unable to independently verify these claims.
Ukraine’s success in boosting Snake Island is partly attributed to new arms supplies by the West. British intelligence estimated that, using donated Harpoon anti-missile missiles, Ukraine was “almost certain” to sink the Russian naval tug Spasatel Vasily Bekh, which had been delivering Russian weapons and personnel to Snake Island.
Prussian journalists and war bloggers have also linked the strengthening of Ukraine’s fighting capabilities to the French artillery system CAESAR, stationed in Odessa, as one of the reasons for the withdrawal, indicating a victory for Kyiv and its Western allies. CAESAR has a shooting range of about 26 miles.
“After the transfer of the French self-propelled shells CAESAR and [tactical missiles] Tochka-U in the Odessa region, the density of artillery fire from the Odessa region increased greatly, “wrote a popular Telegram blogger known as Rybar on Thursday.
At pro-Kremlin outlets, Russia’s withdrawal from the island was described as a setback for Moscow, but also as a necessary measure to save the lives of Russian soldiers.
Meanwhile, NATO leaders are meeting in Madrid on Thursday for the third and final day. President Biden announced at the meeting on Wednesday that the United States would increase its military presence on NATO territory in Europe, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The new deployments will include a permanent headquarters for the 5th U.S. Army Corps in Poland.
Suliman reported from London. David Walker in the UK and Claire Parker and Alex Horton in Washington contributed to this report.