The Snake Island campaign was a Russian military attack on and occupation of Snake Island, a small, strategically located Ukrainian island in the Black Sea. On 24 February 2022, the first day of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Navy attacked Snake Island and captured it along with its garrison, beginning a 126-day military occupation.
The attack was widely publicized after a recording of a radio conversation went viral. On the clip, the Russian cruiser Moskva hails the island's garrison over the radio demanding their surrender; a Ukrainian soldier responds, "Russian warship, go fuck yourself" (Russian: 'Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй', romanized: Russky voyenny korabl, idi na khuy). There were initial inaccurate reports of the garrison's deaths.
Russian forces also captured a civilian search-and-rescue ship that sought to evacuate the soldiers. The ship, its crew, and at least one soldier were later freed in prisoner exchanges.
After the island was captured, Ukraine began to attack Russian forces on and around the island. It fired anti-ship missiles at Russian vessels and launched air, artillery, and missile strikes at Russian positions on the island.
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