Snake Island campaign

Snake Island campaign
Part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Date 24 February – 30 June 2022 (4 months and 6 days) Location Snake Island, Odesa Oblast 45°15′18″N 30°12′15″E / 45.25500°N 30.20417°E / 45.25500; 30.20417 Result Ukrainian victory[1][2]
Belligerents
Russia	Ukraine
Strength
1 missile cruiser Moskva[3] 1 patrol ship Vasily Bykov[3]	Per Ukrainian sources: 80 servicemen[4] Per Russian sources: 82 soldiers (24 February) 16 boats (25 February)
Casualties and losses
Russian seizure None Ukrainian recapture Per Ukrainian sources: 34+ Killed 4 "Raptor" boats "Serna" class landing ship "Vasily Bekh" tugboat 3 air defense systems 1 Mi-8 helicopter 3 Pantsir missile systems	Russian seizure Per Ukrainian sources: 80 captured[4] 1 search and rescue boat seized Per Russian sources: 82 soldiers captured 6 boats sunk Ukrainian recapture Per Ukrainian sources: 10 killed DSHK-1 Stanislav[4] 1 Su-24MR[5][6] 1 Bayraktar TB2 drone
class=notpageimage| Location of Snake Island in the Black Sea

The Snake Island campaign was a period of Russian occupation and military conflict for Snake Island, a small, strategically located Ukrainian island in the Black Sea. On 24 February 2022, the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Navy attacked Snake Island and captured it along with its entire garrison, beginning a military occupation of the island. The attack was widely publicized when an audio clip of the Russian cruiser Moskva hailing the island's garrison over the radio demanding their surrender and being told "Russian warship, go fuck yourself" (Russian: 'Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй', tr. Russky voyenny korabl, idi na khuy) in response went viral, along with initial inaccurate reports of the garrison's deaths.^[7][8] Later on, it emerged that a civilian search and rescue ship trying to evacuate the soldiers was also captured along with the garrison. The ship, its crew, and at least one soldier were subsequently freed in prisoner exchanges.

Following the island's capture, Ukraine launched a campaign against Russian forces on and around the island, deploying anti-ship missiles against Russian naval forces as well as air, artillery, and missile strikes against Russian positions on the island itself. Russia subsequently withdrew from the island on 30 June 2022, ending the island's 126-day military occupation. Russian bombing against the island continued thereafter, reportedly causing casualties on the Ukrainian military; this has been denied by Ukraine.