It is a tactical defeat for Russia in the strategically most important area of the conflict with Ukraine. Moscow was forced, Thursday morning, June 30, to withdraw its forces from Serpents’ Island after a series of increasingly precise Ukrainian bombardments.
Located 35 km off the Ukrainian coast, at the level of the Danube delta and close to the Romanian border, Serpents’ Island has allowed Russian forces, for four months, to put a lock on maritime traffic from and to ports. Ukrainians. The Russian device consisted of a radar station coupled with several anti-aircraft and anti-ship systems prohibiting maritime and air navigation in an area of approximately 100 km around the islet. Until April, Russian marine infantry commandos also reportedly used Serpents’ Island as a forward base to prepare for a landing in the Odessa region, a scenario that did not materialize.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valeri Zalouzhny, rejoiced at the defeat inflicted on the Russian invader on his Facebook page. “Unable to withstand the fire of our artillery, missiles and airstrikes, the occupiers left Serpents’ Island”, writes the general. Offering some details on the deployed arsenal, he says thank “the designers and manufacturers of the Ukrainian Bohdan self-propelled howitzer, which played an important role in the liberation of the island. Thank you to foreign partners for the means of destruction provided”, he said, without specifying which foreign weapons he was referring to. Ukrainian and Russian sources suggest that the Caesar self-propelled howitzer, twelve of which were delivered by France, took part in the operation.
A black series for Moscow
General Zaloujny also specifies that strikes were carried out by missiles and planes. The Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone was used to correct the artillery fire. The two types of howitzers, Bohdan and Caesar, have a range of about 40 km, even up to 60 km with self-propelled shells of the Excalibur type. Both were only recently integrated into the Ukrainian arsenal and made it possible to subject the Russian positions to both heavy and precise fire, which their Soviet-designed artillery did not allow them until. here, for lack of sufficient scope.
The vulnerability and strategic position made the islet a prime target on the first day of the offensive. On February 24, two Russian ships, including the missile cruiser Moscow, threaten the Ukrainian garrison on Serpents’ Island. This is the start of a dark series for Moscow. A Ukrainian soldier responds with a defiant phrase: “Russian warship, fuck you”, which immediately became a rallying cry across the country. Back in April when it came as reinforcements, off the islet, the cruiser Moscow is sunk by two Ukrainian missiles, in the worst snub suffered by the Russian navy since the Second World War.
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