The Russian army announced on Thursday that it had withdrawn from Serpents' Island.
It is a strategic position in the Black Sea conquered by Russia during the war it is waging against kyiv and which has been under Ukrainian bombardment in recent weeks.
The Ukrainian army, for its part, hailed “the liberation of a strategic territory”.
This small island became emblematic from the first day of the Russian offensive when a member of the small Ukrainian garrison defending it told the Russian ship demanding its surrender to “fuck it”.
Before finally surrendering.
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"On June 30, as a sign of goodwill, the Russian armed forces accomplished the objectives set on Serpents' Island and withdrew their garrison there," said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov. .
He assures that this gesture was to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine.
The food crisis in the background
"Russia does not oppose the efforts of the UN
(Editor's note: United Nations Organization)
to create a humanitarian corridor allowing the export of cereal production from Ukraine", he continued.
"This decision will no longer allow Kiev
(Editor's note: the Ukrainian capital)
to speculate on an imminent food crisis by saying that it is impossible to export cereals because of the total control exercised by Russia over the northwest. of the Black Sea,” added Igor Konashenkov.
VIDEO.
The 13 Ukrainian soldiers announced dead on Serpents' Island were taken prisoner by the Russian Navy
Serpents' Island, located in the northwest of the Black Sea, near the Ukrainian and Romanian coasts, was conquered by Russia at the start of the offensive in Ukraine launched on February 24.
The island was then regularly targeted by Ukrainian drone and missile strikes.
Russia assured on June 21 that it had repelled a "crazy" attempt by kyiv forces to retake Serpents' Island.
