President Zelensky pays a visit to Snake Island as Ukraine war enters 500th day

As the continuing conflict in Ukraine enters its 500th day, Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video to social media displaying his journey to an island that has come to represent Ukrainian resistance.

Ukrainian soldiers stationed on Snake Island attracted notice abroad in the early days of the conflict when they disobeyed a Russian warship’s order to submit.

The Black Sea island was initially taken over by Russia, but Ukraine later recovered it.

The president of Ukraine describes Snake Island as a “place of victory” that can never be retaken in the video.

He emphasises that this demonstrates Ukraine’s resolve to reclaim every square inch of its territory that Russia has been occupying since the war’s start in February 2022.

Speaking from Snake Island, Zelensky honoured the Ukrainian soldiers who fought for the island and all other defenders of the country, saying that reclaiming control of the island “is a great proof that Ukraine will regain every bit of its territory.”

“I want to thank — from here, from this place of victory — each of our soldiers for these 500 days,” Zelensky said. “Thank you to everyone who fights for Ukraine!”

It was unclear when the video was filmed. Zelensky was in Turkey on Saturday.

Russian forces took control of the tiny stone island on February 24, 2022, the day Moscow launched its invasion, in the apparent hope of using it as a staging ground for an assault on Odesa, Ukraine’s biggest port and the headquarters of its navy.

The island took on legendary significance for Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion, when Ukrainian troops there reportedly received a demand from a Russian warship to surrender or be bombed. The answer supposedly came back, “Go (expletive) yourself.”

The island’s Ukrainian defenders were captured by the Russians but later freed as part of a prisoner exchange.

After the island was taken, the Ukrainian military heavily bombarded the small Russian garrison there, forcing the Russians to pull back on June 30, 2022.

The Russian retreat reduced the threat of a seaborne Russian attack on Odesa and helped pave the way for a deal to resume Ukrainian grain exports.

“Let the freedom that all our heroes of different times wanted for Ukraine and that must be won right now be a tribute to all those who gave their lives for Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “We will definitely win!”

Intense battles continued to rage Saturday in the country’s east and south as Ukrainian forces pressed their attacks against multi-layered Russian defences in the initial stages of their counteroffensive.

Ukraine’s interior ministry said that a Russian rocket strike on the town of Lyman killed eight civilians and wounded 13 others early Saturday.

The island’s Ukrainian defenders were captured by the Russians but later freed as part of a prisoner exchange. After the island was taken, the Ukrainian military heavily bombarded the small Russian garrison there, forcing the Russians to pull back on June 30, 2022. The Russian retreat reduced the threat of a seaborne Russian attack on Odesa and helped pave the way for a deal to resume Ukrainian grain exports.

“Let the freedom that all our heroes of different times wanted for Ukraine and that must be won right now be a tribute to all those who gave their lives for Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “We will definitely win!”

Intense battles continued to rage Saturday in the country’s east and south as Ukrainian forces pressed their attacks against multi-layered Russian defenses in the initial stages of their counteroffensive.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the eastern Donetsk region, posted images showing some of the dead, including a body lying under a bicycle and body fragments on the pavement next to a damaged vehicle, saying that “the Russian terrorists are continuing to strike civilians in Donetsk.”

A private residence, a shop and a few cars were damaged in the attack on Lyman, which sits just a few miles from the frontline, where Russian troops have recently intensified fighting in the forests of Kreminna.

The UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence update that the eastern town of Bakhmut that was captured by the Russians in May has seen some of the most intense fighting along the front during the last week.