Fighting continues on Snake Island in the Black Sea, 140 kilometers from Odessa. Russia is trying to reinforce the weakly defended garrison stationed there, the British Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday..

The Russian defense ministry previously stated that it disrupted the Ukrainian PR campaign to capture the Snake on the eve of Victory Day on May 9 and inflicted heavy losses on the Armed Forces of Ukraine in manpower, ships and aviation.

Ukraine in recent days has also announced its successes in the area of \u200b\u200bthe island, posting videos of the destruction of Russian military equipment, boats and ground facilities..

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For two days in a row, the Russian Ministry of Defense began its information reports with a report on the failure of several attempts to land air and sea assault forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Zmeiny. Defense Ministry spokesman General Konashenkov called Ukrainian attempts to liberate their island a "

Konashenkov claimed that Ukraine had lost three Su-24 and one Su-27 aircraft, three Mi-8 helicopters with troops on board, one Mi-24 helicopter and 29 drones, including eight Bayraktar TB2 attack aircraft, three assault boats and.

It is not possible to verify the data of the Russian Ministry of Defense from independent sources. Aleksey Arestovich, an adviser to the head of the office of the president of Ukraine, said in an interview on YouTube on Tuesday that Ukraine did not try to recapture Zmeiny Island, since it was much easier for it to continue hitting Russian targets there..

On Saturday, Ukraine said its Bayraktar TB2 drones had destroyed a Serna-class landing craft and two Raptor-class patrol boats, and damaged a third.

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The Ukrainian military also published a video in which a drone strikes a helicopter that landed troops on the island.. Reuters has verified the footage..

Ukraine also reported the destruction of two Tor anti-aircraft missile systems on the island, and estimated the total losses of Russians at 46 people.. As in the case of the statements of the Russian Ministry of Defense, there is no way to confirm this information, but at least the Ukrainian side is showing videos of their attacks.

According to the British Ministry of Defense, Russia is trying to replenish the garrison of the island and its supplies, but the Ukrainians managed to inflict accurate strikes from Bayraktars on air defense systems on Zmein and ships that were carrying replenishment.

The British believe that support ships have become more vulnerable after the sinking of the Moskva cruiser near the island, which provided protection from air strikes, and the withdrawal of other Russian ships to the coast of Crimea.

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On May 9, Ukrainian media reported the death of Colonel Igor Bedzai, Deputy Commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for Aviation - he is called one of the best pilots in Ukraine.

He died during a combat mission as part of the crew of the Mi-14 amphibious sea helicopter from a Russian fighter missile, said Taras Chmut, head of the Come Back Alive Foundation..

At about the same time, information appeared in the Ukrainian press about the death of two more Ukrainian pilots - one of them, Vasily Ilchuk, is said to have died in the area of \u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bSnake Island.

This indirectly confirms reports of fierce battles in the area of \u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bZmiinoye, and, possibly, of an unsuccessful attempt to land Ukrainian troops..

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the name Serpentine was not on everyone's lips.. This is a small rocky island with an area of \u200b\u200b20.5 hectares, about 35 kilometers from the nearest coast and 140 kilometers from Odessa.

Before the war, border guards served on the island and scientists from the Odessa National University worked, a small village was built there with a pier, post office, bank and relay, it was planned to create a tourist and diving center.

It would seem - what interest can this island be for the Russian military, but they captured it on the very first day of the war.

If Russia can gain a foothold on the island, deploy air defense, coastal defense and cruise missiles there, it will be able to dominate the northwestern part of the Black Sea, says the British Ministry of Defense.

Despite the loss of " Serpentine can serve both as a bridgehead, and as a place for placing fire support equipment, and as a radar base.

The island is located in such a way that the tracking equipment on it allows you to control the air and sea space not only around the Odessa region, but even on the territory of neighboring Moldova with Transnistria and Romania.

The problem for both Russia and Ukraine is that Serpentine is easier to capture than to keep.. There is nowhere to hide from shelling, it is not very clear how to protect the garrison if the enemy decides to bring down heavy fire on the island.

But on top of everything else, the Serpent's Island is a symbol.

On February 24, the Russian military invaded the territory of Ukraine and established control over the island of Serpents.. An audio recording of how a Russian warship offered Ukrainian soldiers to surrender was circulated on social networks, and they obscenely refused him.

After that, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that as a result of a missile and artillery strike by a Russian warship on the island, 13 Ukrainian border guards were killed..

However, later it turned out that the Ukrainian military, who served on the island of Serpents, are alive and are in Russian captivity.. Subsequently, they were exchanged for captured Russians..

The cruiser Moskva, which participated in the operation to capture Zmeinoye, was hit by a missile attack on April 13 and sank the next day..

The obscene phrase that the border guards responded to the Russian ship became a meme, and Ukrposhta even put into circulation a postage stamp dedicated to this event..