Snake Island is located along a busy shipping route. Russia took control of it in the early days of the war with the apparent hope of using it as a starting point for an assault on Odessa.
It was unclear whether the evacuation meant a change in Moscow’s designs to Ukraine’s largest port, which is crucial for sending grain to Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the world. It is also home to the country’s navy.
This black and white satellite image of WorldView-1 shows the southern end of Snake Island with a destroyed tower and burned vegetation in several places. Credit: Maxar Technologies via AP
The island, surrounded by myths since antiquity, first acquired legendary significance for Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion, when Ukrainian troops received a request from a Russian warship to surrender. if or be bombed. The answer supposedly came back: “Go [expletive] yourself.”
Ukraine has celebrated history with patriotic fervor, issuing a postage stamp in commemoration.
Ukrainian defenders of the island were captured by the Russians but later released as part of a prisoner exchange. After the capture of the island, the Ukrainian army heavily bombarded the small Russian garrison there and its air defenses.
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At a NATO summit in Madrid, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson presented the Russian withdrawal as a signal that Ukraine will prevail in the war launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “In the end it will be impossible for Putin to maintain a country that will not accept” the occupation, Johnson said.
Meanwhile, Moscow maintained its drive to take control of the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. It focuses on the city of Lysychansk, the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Luhansk Province.
Russian troops and their separatist allies control 95% of Luhansk and about half of Donetsk, the two Russian-speaking provinces that make up the predominantly Russian-speaking Donbas.
Ukraine said the Russians were bombing Lysychansk and clashing with Ukrainian defenders around an oil refinery on its banks.
Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said Russian reconnaissance units attempting to enter Lysychansk on Wednesday were repulsed. He said the Russians were trying to block a road used to deliver supplies and completely surround the city.
“The Russians have launched virtually all their forces to seize the city,” Haidai said, but denied that Lysychansk had been surrounded.
However, Haidai noted that as of Thursday evening, evacuations from the city were impossible due to heavy bombing and mined access roads. Earlier, a representative of the Ukrainian army said he did not plan a withdrawal from Lysychansk.
AP