![]() ![]() This happened during the period in which the island was part of a border dispute between Romania and Ukraine from 2004 to 2009, during which Romania contested the technical definition of the island and borders around it. A village, Bile, was founded in February 2007 with the purpose of consolidating the status of the island as an inhabited place. The island is populated, reported to have under 30 people in 2012. Today it is adminstered as part of Ukraine's Odessa oblast. The island has been known since classical antiquity, and during that era hosted a Greek temple to Achilles. This article was originally written in German.Coordinates: 45☁5′18″N 30☁2′15″E / 45.25500°N 30.20417☎ / 45.25500 30.20417 Snake Island, also known as Serpent Island or Zmiinyi Island ( Ukrainian: острів Змії́ний, romanized: ostriv Zmiinyi Romanian: Insula Șerpilor Russian: Змеиный, romanized: Zmeinyy), is an island belonging to Ukraine located in the Black Sea, near the Danube Delta, with an important role in delimiting Ukrainian territorial waters. Satellite images taken by the US company Maxar Technologies suggest that at least one Russian military helicopter was shot down and one air-defense unit destroyed, in addition to the ships. In the past 10 days, Ukraine's army has launched a series of drone and missile attacks in an attempt to recapture the island. The long-term plan could be to build a landing station for fighter jets. UK agents have warned that Russia's military could dominate the area if it were able to consolidate its position with strategic air-defense and coastal-defense cruise missiles. These reports have not been independently verified because for decades the island was a restricted military area and not generally accessible.Īccording to British intelligence, the Kremlin is trying to bolster troops on Snake island. It also reportedly has ammunition and fuel depots, radar systems and missile sites that date back to the Soviet era. Snake Island was developed into a military base during the Soviet era and boasts a helipad and two piers where large warships with drafts of up to 8 meters (26.5 feet) can dock. Russia and Ukraine both want to take control of this small island It could thus continue to prevent the millions of tons of Ukrainian grain currently being exported around the world by land from being shipped by sea in the future, too. If Russia were able to occupy the island permanently, it could block the export of goods via the port of Odesa. Secondly, located 200 kilometers south of Odesa, the biggest port city in Ukraine, Snake Island offers the army that controls it the chance to also control maritime traffic in the vicinity. There are very few islands in the Black Sea, for one. Though Snake Island might appear unremarkable at first glance, it has been strategically important for both Russia and Ukraine since the start of this war. In the past week, Ukraine's military has reported sinking a Russian landing boat near the island and severely damaging a naval supply vessel en route to the island with an anti-aircraft system on board. ![]() The island is still under Russia's control, but there has been fierce fighting. Ukrainians queue up for Russian warship stamp
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