Satellite image shows Snake Island, Ukraine, June 21, 2022. Maxar Technologies / Handout via REUTERS
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Kyiv, June 30 (Reuters) – Russian forces withdrew from Ukraine’s Snake Island, a strategic outpost in the Black Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry and the Ukrainian president’s office said Thursday.
Snake Island, which Russia occupied on the first day of its invasion, gained notoriety when Ukrainian border guards stationed there rejected a Russian warship’s request for their surrender. Read more
“KABUM! There are no more Russian troops on Snake Island. Our armed forces have done a great job, “Andriy Ermak, head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote on Twitter. Read more
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Russia’s defense ministry has confirmed that Russian troops have withdrawn from Snake Island, calling it a “gesture of goodwill” and saying the troops have fulfilled their tasks.
The Russian ministry added that the move shows that Russia is not hindering UN efforts to organize a humanitarian corridor for the export of agricultural products from Ukraine.
Reuters failed to immediately check Ukrainian and Russian accounts.
Russia said on Wednesday it was ready to work with the UN to tackle the risks of a global food crisis, following talks between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, but no specific measures were announced at the time.
Last month, the British Ministry of Defense said that if Russia managed to consolidate its position on Snake Island with strategic air defense and cruise missiles for coastal defense, it could dominate the northwestern Black Sea. Read more
Ukraine’s southern military command wrote on Facebook that Russian forces had evacuated in two boats after an operation involving missiles and artillery.
Zelensky’s chief of staff, Ermak, said the Ukrainian armed forces had expelled Russian troops from the island and said Russia’s claim that the withdrawal was in good faith was untrue.
He reiterated Ukraine’s accusations that Russia was provoking a global food crisis by blocking Ukrainian ports and targeting warehouses.
Since Russia invaded on February 24, Ukraine’s grain supplies from its Black Sea ports have stalled and millions of tons of grain have remained in silos.
Moscow says it is up to Kyiv to remove mines from ports to clear shipping routes, and says Western sanctions against it are making the situation worse.
The first cargo ship has left the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdyansk in the Sea of Azov in eastern Ukraine, a local official said on Thursday after Russia said the port had been demined and was ready to resume grain supplies.
Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of world wheat supplies, while Russia is also a key world exporter of fertilizers and Ukraine is a major exporter of corn and sunflower oil.
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Report by Max Hunder Written by Alexander Winning Edited by Nick McPhee and Frank Jack Daniel
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