The island acquired near-mythological status for Ukraine’s resistance when the country’s officials released an audio recording of a conversation between Russia’s flagship Moskva and Ukrainian soldiers defending the island.
Released on February 25, 2022, the day after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion, it captured a crew member demanding the surrender of Ukrainian troops. The response, “Fuck you,” came back.
NBC News was unable to verify the recording, which was widely shared and commented on, but Ukraine later celebrated the story with patriotic fervor and issued a commemorative postage stamp.
Ukrainian troops captured on the island were later released in a prisoner exchange and the Moskva, a guided-missile cruiser carrying a crew of 510, sank on April 14, 2002. US officials said at the time that it was attacked. by two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles. missiles Moscow said the ship sank after a fire.
Two months later, the Island of Snakes was retaken by Ukraine.
“Today here we commemorate all our heroes, our warriors who fought for this island and freed it,” Zelenskyy said in a voiceover over the video. “Although this is a small piece of land in the middle of our Black Sea, it serves as evidence that Ukraine will get back all parts of its territory.”
The video was released as Zelenskyy continues a diplomatic tour of Europe to rally support for Ukraine’s bid to join NATO before the organization’s leaders meet in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius next week for a two-day summit. days next week to offer further assistance in the modernization of the Ukrainian armed forces. .
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who previously portrayed himself as a mediator between Moscow and Kiev, said Ukraine “deserves” to be a NATO member, at a news conference with Zelenskyy on Friday.
Ahead of the NATO summit, the US said it would provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, a move President Joe Biden described as a “difficult decision”.
Two-thirds of NATO members have banned the munitions, which have a history of causing heavy civilian casualties, but the US sees their delivery as a way to help bolster Ukraine’s offensive and push through Russian front lines. .
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry posted a video on its Telegram channel showing Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspecting troops and overseeing the training of new servicemen in the Southern Military District in Rostov, where the Wagner Group rebellion began in end of last month.
It is one of the first times Shoigu has been seen publicly since Yevgeny Prighozin’s failed mutiny in which his private army of fighters tried to march on Moscow to demand Shoigu’s removal from power.
The ministry did not say when the video was made, but it showed Shoigu in military uniform inspecting soldiers at a firing range and seeing tanks.
Inside Ukraine, Britain’s Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update on Saturday that the country’s forces had made “steady advances” around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in Ukraine. war before Russia claimed control. In May.
The update posted on Twitter said that the Russian defenders were likely fighting with “low morale, a mix of disparate units, and a limited ability to find and engage Ukrainian artillery,” adding that after a “pause,” fighting at Bakhmut it was again “something of the best”. the most intense fighting along the front”.
The Russian leadership would view it as “politically unacceptable to concede to Bakhmut” even though there are “very likely few additional reserves to commit to the sector,” according to the update.
Conquered with the help of Prigozhin’s Wagner Group, the city is one of Putin’s limited victories in the past year.
