Russian troops withdraw from Ukraine’s Snake Island in ‘goodwill gesture’

The defence ministry said the pullback showed Moscow was not blocking the export of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports

But Kyiv claimed it as a win, saying it had driven the Russian forces out after a massive artillery and assault overnight

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Ukraine’s Snake Island is a strategic outpost in the Black Sea. Photo: Maxar Technologies via Reuters

Published: 5:53pm, 30 Jun 2022Updated: 8:26pm, 30 Jun 2022

Russian forces abandoned the strategic Black Sea outpost of Snake Island on Thursday, in a major victory for Ukraine that could loosen a Russian grain export blockade threatening to worsen global hunger.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had decided to withdraw from the outcrop as a “gesture of goodwill” that showed Moscow was not obstructing UN efforts to open a humanitarian corridor allowing grains to be shipped from Ukraine’s ports.

Ukraine said it had driven the Russian forces out after a massive artillery and assault overnight.

“KABOOM!” tweeted Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff. “No Russian troops on the Snake Island any more. Our Armed Forces did a great job.”

Ukraine’s southern military command posted an image on Facebook of what appeared to be the island, seen from the air, with at least five huge columns of black smoke rising above it from what it described as an assault by missiles and artillery.