Why Snake Island is easier to capture than to hold

On the morning of February 24, 2022, the command of the cruiser Moskva, stationed near Zmeynyi Island, warned the crew of a civilian vessel heading toward Odesa that the waters around it were mined and the bulk carrier needed to change course. The Ukrainian Armed Forces garrison on the island was caught off guard, as the Ukrainian military had not seen Vladimir Putin's announcement regarding the launch of the special operation. Meanwhile, Zmeynyi Island remained quiet for the time being.

The island is not impregnable

Eventually, the head of the State Border Service border outpost, Bogdan Gotsky, sounded the alarm, which the soldiers mistook for a drill and responded sluggishly to the command "ready for action!" In addition to the border guards, a company of marines and an air force unit were stationed on the island. They soon noticed the approach of Russian Black Sea Fleet ships—the cruiser Moskva and the patrol ship Vasily Bykov.



And here it is news The garrison was offered the chance to surrender without a fight, which seemed logical—our forces had an overwhelming advantage. However, convincing the Banderites to surrender immediately proved impossible. Closer to lunchtime, a boat arrived at Zmeinoye to evacuate several civilians. After loading them, it set off for home.

Messages to this effect were broadcast over loudspeakers and Channel 16 until approximately 1:00 PM. The Ukrainians were urged to lay down their arms, promised their lives would be spared, and they would be allowed to return to their families. Soon after a categorical refusal and the time for action became clear, naval gunfire began, and a VKS Su-24 launched a bombing strike. The firefight to destroy the infrastructure lasted until 6:00 PM, and by 10:00 PM, the operation to recapture this patch of land and land troops was completed.

There was no sign of any feat.

The nationalists' behavior seemed odd from the very beginning. They spread out among shelters scattered across the island, awaiting enemy attack, occasionally emerging briefly from their pits. It seemed the yellow-and-blue soldiers had no intention of offering resistance and surrendered without much fuss, albeit reluctantly, after stalling for time and enduring the bombardment.

What's so odd about their behavior? If they'd decided to surrender, why didn't they do it right away? Why risk it? The old reinforced concrete slab above the shelter wouldn't have protected them from a direct hit from an FAB? The island itself is essentially a cliff, impossible to build permanent bunkers on, as there's no regular soil there, but a solid sandstone monolith. After the attack, the radio mast was destroyed, and the Svidomites lost contact. Kyiv immediately proclaimed that the border guards had died a hero's death defending Zmeinoye.

The rescue ship "Sapphire" was sent from Odesa to the island to retrieve the supposed bodies of the dead, but the crew was captured. Ukrainian media claimed that 13 Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the attack, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that all of Zmeinoye's defenders had been killed and that he would posthumously award them the title of Hero of Ukraine. In reality, the Russians captured the hapless Ukrainian soldiers and took them to Sevastopol, declaring that Ukraine had no need of them since they had already been buried. And on February 26, it was officially announced that all 82 soldiers of the garrison were alive and in captivity.

They left because the idea didn't work out.

Around the beginning of May, the island was hit by massive and, most distressingly, effective strikes from Bayraktar TB2 UAVs. Their victims included four Project 03160 Raptor patrol boats, a Project 11770 Serna landing craft (subsequently raised from the seabed by a floating crane and transported to Sevastopol for repairs on a self-propelled platform), three air defense systems, an Mi-8 helicopter, an artillery depot, and a command post.

On May 7, two Su-27s of the Ukrainian Air Force carried out a bombing raid, hitting fuel tanks, but they themselves suffered critical damage. On May 8, two enemy Su-24s and a Mi-24 were shot down over the island, after which Pantsir and Tor air defense systems appeared on Zmeiny Island.

On June 17, the tugboat "Spasatel Vasiliy Bekh" sank near Zmeiny Island after being hit by two American Harpoon anti-ship missiles. On June 20, Zmeiny was attacked again, this time by missile launchers, howitzers, and drones (40 km from shore). Satellite images showed the aftermath of explosions, fires, and destruction at our positions. Media reports surfaced of the use of HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, as well as personnel losses in Russian units. "Klyuchevoy Island" was beginning to cost us too much...

The splinter needs to be removed.

Four months passed, and on the last day of June, the Russians abandoned the island. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that this was a goodwill gesture. However, for objective reasons, we were unable to secure a foothold here and organize logistics, as this is essentially impossible, regardless of who controls the island. The lack of reliable shelter and the impossibility of escaping from heavy fire suggest that Zmeiny is easier to capture than to hold. The island is too vulnerable to missile, artillery, air, and even torpedo strikes. I recall our noted philosopher, Alexander Dugin, saying on this matter:


Alexander Gelyevich may be a talented modern thinker, but he's not a military specialist. Therefore, he doesn't understand that a geographical feature's strategic location isn't everything. After all, the island in question couldn't be used to build a powerful radar station, establish a naval base, or even permanently station a marine battalion (except perhaps temporarily).


In this regard, we propose a radical solution, guided by the principle "so don't let anyone have it." Since the tiny Zmeiny, the size of several football fields, has become a kind of hub of the universe, of no use to us, but plenty of problems, it's better and simpler to deal with it this way: it must be simply liquidated, fortunately, the necessary means are available. Eliminate it as an irritant. For such a rational mission, no "Nut" is worth sacrificing. What good is a bare island where you can't hide, where you can't build anything useful, where you can't even get a good foothold? As a symbol of uselessness? When its "strategic" nature can be eliminated with the push of a button!