Nicolas Cinquini

On July 7, 2022, an amphibious raid raises the Ukrainian flag on Zmeiny (serpentine) island, that the Anglo-Saxons are calling Snake, a 17-hectare rock in the Black sea. The island is about 35 km east of the Ukrainian coast near Romania border, 140 km south of Odessa.

The Russian navy stormed it on February 24, 2022, at the beginning of the special military operation in Donbass and Ukraine. The skirmish became a Ukrainian myth, which is telling that few dozen border guards would have fought to death. The garrison actually surrendered

The fist major counterattack occurred on May 7 and two days later, the Russian defense ministry stated

Over the past two days, the Kiev regime has made several desperate attempts to land air and sea assaults on Zmeiny island […] The enemy suffered heavy losses. 3 Su-24 and 1 Su-27, 3 Mi-8 helicopters with paratroopers on board and 1 Mi-24 helicopter have been shot down […] Within two days, 29 Ukrainian UAVs have been shot down […] Also, 3 armored Ukrainian amphibious assault boats carrying Ukrainian naval personnel were destroyed during an attempted landing on the night of May 8 […] more than 50 Ukrainian saboteurs have been killed at sea and on the coast during the landing and attempts to consolidate on the island. 24 bodies of dead Ukrainian servicemen were left on the shore of Zmeiny island

From Russian sources, a new attempt was cancelled on June 20, after the Russian air defense had managed to shoot down Tochka ballistic missiles and Uragan 220 mm rockets.

Meanwhile, NATO delivered 155 mm guns and howitzers to Ukraine. The US M777 or French CaESAr can shoot guided artillery shells up to 40, even 50 km. Some were brought at range of the island, were threatening to destroy the air defense, have caused a withdrawal on June 30.

Russia is still wielding a reciprocal fire control on the island and the Ukrainian defense ministry stated on July 4 that a helicopter had dropped a flag there. The PR operation was insufficient and the amphibious raid improves it today. According to Russian sources, an airstrike will target the detachment.