Ukraine denies that there were casualties on its troops and insists that they have control of the island
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced this Thursday new bombardments on the island of Snakes, located in the Black Sea, after several Ukrainian soldiers were surprised landing with a flag.
The spokesman for the Russian Army, General Igor Konashenkov, has reported that the offensive was carried out around 5:00 (local time) when a group of soldiers landed after disembarking from a motor boat, at which time a plane of the Air Forces has launched an attack with high-precision missiles.
“As a result, part of the Ukrainian military personnel has been destroyed. The survivors have fled in the direction of the Primorskoye settlement in the Odessa region,” Konashenkov detailed, the Interfax agency reports.
Konashenkov explained that kyiv’s intentions consisted of raising the Ukrainian flag on the island in the context of its military failures and the massive withdrawal of its troops from the Donbas region.
Shortly after, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army has denied that there were casualties among its soldiers and has insisted that they have reestablished control of the island.
“All Ukrainian servicemen who have participated in this mission have returned to their destinations,” said the deputy head of the Operations Department of the General Staff, Oleksi Gromov.
“We established control over Snake Island (…). We have prevented the enemy from taking the rest of their military units, weapons and equipment. Currently, military personnel have physically established control over the island and I can tell you that all The servicemen who participated in this task have returned to their assignments,” Gromov said.
Control of this small rocky island located in the Black Sea and about 45 kilometers from the coasts of Romania and Ukraine has been shifting from kyiv to Moscow since the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, announced the beginning of the invasion on the 24th of february.
In the last week, control of the island has been changing hands almost daily, according to what both sides said. On June 30, Russia announced its “voluntary” withdrawal as a “goodwill gesture” for the export of cereals, while Ukraine celebrated the exit as part of its offensive to expel them from the Black Sea and a few days ago even reported that his flag waved again.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Defense has reported new air offensives on Ukrainian installations in the Donbas region. In the Donetsk city of Artemovsk, Russian troops have shelled ammunition depots and mechanized units, while in the Mikolaiv region, “mercenary” training and recruitment centers have been destroyed.
“In one day, the high-precision weapons of the Russian Air Force have destroyed six command posts (…), two battalions of territorial defense in the Nikolaev region”, as well as “three warehouses with weapons and ammunition in the Artemovsk, Seversk and Zvanovka areas” in Donetsk”, he stressed.
