I think that this is the first time that the Ukrainians have taken territory back from the Russians.
11 thoughts on “Snake Island”
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I think that this is the first time that the Ukrainians have taken territory back from the Russians.
Comments are closed.
I think that this is the first time that the Ukrainians have taken territory back from the Russians.
Uh, no. They have retaken many areas prior to Snake Island. Beginning with the regions north of Kyyiv right up to the border with Belarus and the Russian Federation. Or you can say the Russians pulled out of there too, depending upon your point of view.
I meant in terms of consolidation and control, not just an advance.
Actually, to be nitpicky, there are as yet no indications that Ukraine has indeed retaken the island, only that the Russians have been forced to abandon it (much akin to their precipitous retreat from Kyev). The Ukrainians may choose to put forces on the island, I’ve just seen no indications that they have done so. (and they have few strategic reasons to do so, as just keeping the Russians from using it meets their needs).
On the other hand, the ongoing (for a month or so) Ukrainian offensive towards Kherson city has indeed retaken by force considerable territory, including consolidation and control of some of those retaken areas by Ukraine.
As an aside in Kherson, I find it very interesting that the Ukrainians have not targeted the massive Antonovskiy Bridge with artillery fire; it’s one of only two routes across the Dnipro river in the region, and it’s been within easy conventional artillery range for over a week. My guess is they want to leave the Russians with a means for retreating from Kherson, so as to avoid having a battle that will utterly destroy it. Or, they want to wait until they are ready to take Kherson before destroying it, and thus trap a large Russian force. out.
Given the unceasing Ukrainian strikes and how barren the island is, I’m guessing everybody in the Russian leadership chain finally refused to keep staking out Russian soldiers like goats in a tyrannosaur paddock.
Nah. Couldn’t be. Everyone knows orcs care nothing for life.
So now it’s Ukrainian soldiers who are sitting ducks.
The island does seem to have a bad history for everyone who tried to hold it.
LOL
The vaunted Black Seas Fleet had no capital warships, and now has two or three fewer minor warships….
And I’d be very surprised if a couple of batteries of western missiles was not dug into Snake Island, PDQ. With those, pretty much the entirety of the Black Sea can be controlled.
Um, wait, the Russians have the Moskva, flagship of the Black Sea Fleet. That’s a capital ship and it’s Russian (I think various international treaties applying to sunken military wrecks in international waters apply; it still belongs to Russia).
Moskva is also probably every bit as effective as a fleet air defense cruiser now as it was before the Ukrainians sunk it.
🙂
It’s a bit of a stretch to call Snake Island “territory.” Aerial photos show a place that looks marginally more habitable than the British “territory” of Rockall Island in the North Atlantic (sea birds live there). Evidently the Greeks had a use for it, but… you know. Greeks. [Fwiw, the Romanians have also laid claim to it.]
It’s a barren 54 acres. Unless the island were fortified, with strong overhead coverage, the place is untenable. The Ukrainians hit the place repeatedly and showed the Russians it wasn’t such a grand idea to occupy the place. The drilling platforms Russia stole from Ukraine when he stole Crimea have also been reduced to uselessness as well. Russian surveillance capability of that portion of the Black Sea has been reduced to assets on the ground in Crimea. I think it is reasonable to think those assets will end up being destroyed as well.