Snake Island is about 30km (20 miles) from the mainland, so travel even in a small and fast inflatable boat in open waters was inherently risky. They'd have been attacked immediately and likely killed if the Russians had spotted them. The island became famous at the start of the war when a radio exchange went viral. Ukrainian soldiers told the crew of Russia’s attacking warship, who were demanding their surrender, to “go fuck yourself.”

Balls of steel.

Source: The Guardian

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has visited Snake Island to mark 500 days since Russia’s invasion.

The island became a symbol of Ukrainian defiance after guards refused to surrender to Russian forces on the first day of the war.

In an undated clip which was released on Saturday, Zelenskiy was shown arriving at the island by boat.

Wearing a black hoodie and a camouflage bullet-proof vest, Zelenskiy laid flowers to honour those who defended the island, and thanked all the soldiers who had fought for Ukraine in the months since Russia’s invasion.

“Today we are on Snake Island, which will never be conquered by the occupiers, like the whole of Ukraine, because we are the country of the brave.

“I want to thank, from here, from this place of victory, each of our soldiers for these 500 days.

“And may the freedom that all of our heroes of different times wanted for Ukraine, and which we have to win now, be a tribute to all those who gave their lives for Ukraine.”

Praise from the twitterverse.