The Russian military announced on Thursday its withdrawal from a strategic Ukrainian island in the Black Sea, known as Zmiinyi or the island of snakeswhich he had occupied at the beginning of the war that began against Ukraine more than four months ago, the defense ministry reported.

“On June 30, as a measure of goodwill, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation completed their assigned tasks on the island of Zmiiyiy and they withdrew the garrison there“, announced the military spokesman, Igor Konashénkov, in the official report of the Ministry of Defense on Telegram.

Moscow explains the withdrawal with its availability “demonstrate to the international community that Russia does not interfere in the efforts of the United Nations to organize a humanitarian corridor for the export of agricultural products from the territory of Ukraine “.

“This decision it will not allow Kiev to speculate on the question of an impending food crisisreferring to the impossibility of exporting grain due to Russia’s total control over the northwestern part of the Black Sea, “Konashenkov said.

Russia now believes that “the ball is in the field of Ukrainethat it has not yet cleared the Black Sea coast, including the waters near the port of Odessa, the only one left under its control.

Snake Island, a strategic Ukrainian port

The rocky island, located in the Black Sea, about 45 kilometers from the Ukrainian and Romanian coasts, was seized by Russia at the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

Zmiinyi gained world fame when a Ukrainian border guard, Roman Gribov, that was captured with twelve companions by the Russians on the small island, he responded with a raised middle finger to the request for surrender of the commanders of the former flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet, the “Moskva”, which sank in April by Ukraine.

The island has a great strategic valuebecause whoever controls it has control of the sea, land and air in the northwestern part of the Black Sea and in the south of Ukraine, with the important port city of Odessa within artillery range.

With a length of 662 meters and a width of 440 metersit housed Russian air defense complexes, three units of rocket artillery systems, a group of boats and special forces units, according to the Military Intelligence Department (GUR) of Ukraine.

It served to provide coverage for the Russian Air Force and the Black Sea Fleet, among other strategic advantages.

For all this, Kyiv wanted to recover it. The head of the GUR, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, recently assured that the counterattacks would continue until Zmiinyi was free.

Ukrainian forces recently claimed to have destroyed and sunk another Russian ship, the “Vasili Bej” tug, while trying to transport weapons and reinforcement troops to the island.

Also, last week made two counterattacks against the Russian garrison on the island and hit a pair of Pantsir-C1 missiles and anti-aircraft gun complexes, a radar station and military vehicles.

According to British intelligence at the time, “Ukraine’s coastal defense has largely neutralized Russia’s prowess to establish control of the sea and design a maritime force in the northwestern Black Sea. “

“This undermined the viability of Russia’s original operational plan for the invasion, which was to keep the Odessa region at risk from the sea,” he said.

Source: EFE