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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Danya Bazaraa

Ukraine 'destroys' Russian warship that shelled Snake Island on first day of invasion

Ukrainian sailors claim to have destroyed a Russian warship that attacked Snake Island on the first day of the war.

Video footage shared by the Ukrainian navy shows sailors cheering with one man heard shouting "We f****** hit them".

Another repeated the words used by captured Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island - "Russian warship, go f*** yourself."

The video shows rockets being fired into the night sky in the early hours of Monday amid the defence of Odessa.

The Ukrainian navy later confirmed forces defending the port city in southern Ukraine hit a Russian vessel in the Black Sea with gunfire.

The general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine shared the footage on Facebook, saying: “Today, March 7, people 2022, the Marine Corps units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, protecting Odessa region, struck an enemy ship.”

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The Vasily Bykov ship is said to be damaged (@StateOfUkraine/Twitter)

"The enemy has retreated again," it added.

Ukrainian military sources said it was the Vasily Byko vessel that was hit with a rocket barrage, according to the Mail.

The vessel was one of two ships involved in the notorious attack on Snake Island, during which 13 Ukrainian border guards told the Russian navy to "go f*** yourself" before being shelled.

Ukraine's Snake Island (Google)

The 13 border guards stationed on the remote Snake Island, a largely uninhabited but strategically important strip of land in the Black Sea, about 186 miles west of Crimea, were initially thought to have been killed in the attack on February 24.

But days later it emerged the border guards were still alive and had been taken prisoner.

Russian state media showed the Ukrainian soldiers’ arrival in Sevastopol, Crimea, where they are reportedly being held.

They surrendered after repelling two Russian attacks “due to the lack of ammunition,” the Ukrainian navy said.

Ukrainian military sources said it was the Vasily Byko vessel that was hit (Alexander Demianchuk/TASS)

Odessa is home to one million people and its port is crucial to Ukraine's economy.

Locals have been filling bags with sand on the beach to build barriers in the historic city and taking part in weapons training, amid mounting dread of an attack as Russian forces move through Ukraine.

A giant blue and yellow banner reading "Odessa-Ukraine" was draped atop sandbags in the near-deserted city centre.

"We did not surrender Odessa to Hitler, and we will not surrender it to anyone else," said Galyna Zitser, director of the Odessa Philharmonic, which on Tuesday put on its first performance since the crisis began.

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