An incredibly brave stand-off.
Border guards defending an island on the Black Sea following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Thursday issued a spectacularly defiant message to their oppressors.
13 guards posted on the remote Zmiinyi – or 'Snake' – Island stood their ground in the face of overwhelming opposition.
A communication broadcast from a nearby Russian warship, directed at the guards, declared:
"This is a Russian military warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties.
"Otherwise, you will be bombed.
"I repeat – I suggest you surrender your weapons and capitulate otherwise I will open fire. Do you copy?"
In response, two border guards can be heard conversing with one another as the severity of the situation sets in.
"This is it," a voice says.
"Should I tell him to go fuck himself?"
At this moment, the volume is turned up and the guard states:
"Russian warship – go fuck yourself."
According to initial local reports on Friday, all guards had been killed in the following assault.
Update – Monday, 28 February
However, in a dramatic twist, it emerged on Monday that the border guards
are alive and in captivity, following confirmation from the Ukrainian navy.
Rumours of the guards' safety first arrived on Sunday, when the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine updated people via Facebook shared that the soldiers may be alive.
"The SBGSU and the Armed Forces, like the whole of Ukraine, have received hope that all of Zmiiny's defenders are alive," the Guard Service wrote.
"Russian media reported that Ukrainian servicemen on the island, who were temporarily occupied by Russia in Sevastopol, had been sent to Sevastopol.
"Preliminary information that border guards may be dead came before the defenders lost contact," they added.
– Update ends
https://twitter.com/profgalloway/status/1497052056376553479?s=21
The guards have been hailed as heroes by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who delivered
a stark and stirring televised address to the world on Thursday night.
https://twitter.com/ASLuhn/status/1497129344887521280
Zelenskiy reported the deaths of 137 people – both citizen and military casualties – and the injuries of 316 additional Ukrainians during his speech.
"We have been left alone to defend our state," he said.
"Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don’t see anyone. Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee of NATO membership? Everyone is afraid."
Referring to apparent saboteurs that have infiltrated Ukraine while outlining an assassination plot against him and his family, Zelenskiy added:
"They want to destroy Ukraine politically by taking down the head of state.
"I am staying in the government quarter together with others.
"The enemy has designated me as the target number one, and my family as the target number two."
Following overnight airstrikes, military conflict continues on Friday morning as Russian forces look to advance to the capital of Kyiv.
Citizens at ground level, meanwhile, have been encouraged by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence to
construct molotov cocktails in order to "neutralise the oppressor".
