“This is a Russian warship. Are you surrendering with a weapon? We repeat, “Are you surrendering?” Ukraine has deployed 13 border guards to protect the island. In response, the Russian military received a barrage of insults.
This was followed by reports of the killing of 13 Ukrainian soldiers deployed to guard the small but strategic Snake Island on Ukraine’s southeastern border. With the capture of about 42 acres of the island, the 12 nautical miles of the Black Sea came under Russian control. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky has announced that he will posthumously award the title of Hero of Ukraine to all 13 soldiers who bravely died in defiance of the Russian military’s call for surrender. He added that the memory of those who sacrificed their lives for Ukraine should remain forever.
The island, which was initially part of the Ottoman Empire, was annexed by Ukraine in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian State Border Guard Service said Ukraine had lost control of the island and had lost contact with Ukrainian border forces stationed on the island, which is part of Ukraine’s Odessa administrative region.
Population less than 30; First in the hands of Romania
Snake Island is located near the Danube Delta, about 35 km off the coast of the Black Sea in Ukraine. As of 2012, the island’s population was less than 30. The island was part of the border dispute between Romania and Ukraine from 2004 to 2009. On September 16, 2004, Romania approached the International Court of Justice against Ukraine in a dispute over the island’s maritime boundary. The verdict was handed down on February 3, 2009. Accordingly, 80% of the disputed territory was ceded to Romania.
Following the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, the island became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1829 until 1856. In 1877, after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the Ottoman Empire ceded the island and the territory of northern Dobruja to Romania. This was in lieu of the annexation of Romania’s southern Bezerabia to the Ottoman Empire.
As part of its alliance with Romania during World War I, the Russians launched a wireless station on the island. The wireless station was destroyed on June 25, 1917, by a bombing by a Turkish ship. The lighthouse, built by Marius Michael Pasha in 1860, was also damaged. The Warsaw Pact of 1920 reaffirmed that the island was part of Romania. The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1922.
The island, which was under Romanian control during World War II, was the headquarters of a radio station used by the Axis powers. The Soviet Union patrolled near the island but could not find the ships of the Axis Powers. On July 9, 1941 and September 7, 1941, another patrol was conducted near the island. On December 1, 1942, Soviet troops bombed the island. During the bombing, the island’s radio station and lighthouse were attacked. However, there was no significant loss.
On December 11, 1942, a Soviet submarine with 44 people on board sank Romania. The submarine crashed into mines set up in the sea near the island. All 44 people on board died. On August 25, 1943, two Soviet motorboats attacked a Soviet submarine near the island. On August 29, 1944, Romanian sailors were evacuated from the island and captured by Soviet troops.
Owned by post-war Ukraine
After World War II, the 1947 Paris Agreement provided for the cessation of Romania’s northern Bukovina, the Hertza region, Budjak, and Bezerabia by the Soviet Union. But the treaty did not mention the Danube or the island. Until 1948 the island was part of Romania. At the time of demarcation on February 4, 1948, Romania and the Soviet Union signed a protocol, but Romania opposed the validity of the protocol. 6,000 km around the island in 1987. In 4,000 km. Romania refuses to accept Russian offer Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine gained control of the island.
However, several Romanian parties and organizations demanded that the island be made their own. The request was made on the grounds that the island was considered part of Romania in the treaties. In 1997, Romania and Ukraine signed an agreement. Accordingly, both sides agreed that if a decision on the maritime boundary could not be reached within two years, both sides could approach the International Court of Justice for a final verdict.
English Summary: Ukraine loses control over Snake Island in Black Sea – Detailed story