Ukraine raises national flag again on Snake Island

Ukraine’s national flag has been reinstalled on Snake Island, a military spokesperson said on Monday after the country regained control of the territory seized in the first days of Russia’s invasion.

The small island in the Black Sea become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance after a radio exchange went viral at the start of the war, in which Ukrainian soldiers used an expletive to rebuff a Russian warship’s demand to surrender.

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“The flag of Ukraine has been installed on Snake Island,” Nataliya Gumenyuk, a spokeswoman for forces in the south of the country, told reporters.

“The military operation has been completed and the territory has now been returned to the jurisdiction of Ukraine,” she added.

She did not specify whether Ukrainian soldiers had relocated to the island.

On June 30, the Russian army said it had withdrawn from the island “as a sign of goodwill.”

Kyiv insisted that Moscow’s forces had been driven away by Ukrainian strikes.

On July 1, Ukraine accused Russia of having targeted the island with phosphorus bombs.

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