Ukrainian flag hoisted on Zmiinyi (Snake) Island - Pivden (South) Defence Force spokesperson

VALENTYNA ROMANENKO – MONDAY, 4 JULY 2022, 13:41

Zmiinyi (Snake) Island has been officially returned to the jurisdiction of Ukraine.

Source: Nataliya Humenyuk, head of the Press Centre of the Defence Forces of Southern Ukraine at a briefing in the Ukraine - Ukrinform media centre on 4 July.

Quote: "The flag of Ukraine has been planted on Zmiinyi Island. The military operation has been completed and the territory is now back under the jurisdiction of Ukraine.''

Background: On 30 June, the Russian occupiers fled from Zmiinyi Island after Ukrainian defenders launched a series of strikes on the island, including from a Ukrainian Bohdana howitzer.

Later, the Russian authorities announced that they had allegedly "completed the mission on Zmiinyi Island '' and "as a gesture of goodwill" had withdrawn the garrison stationed there.

Valery Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has shown how the occupiers were driven out of Zmiinyi.