“Русский военный корабль, иди нахуй”

Spray paint and ink on an UNC Russian 10 Rubles note.

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2022

On 24 February 2022, two Russian warships began an assault on Snake Island, a Ukrainian island located in the Black Sea. Being a small island with only a single village, populated by fewer than 30 people, only a small contingent of 13 border guards were stationed on the island at the time of the attack. During the onslaught, one of the Russian warships taking part in the siege of the island called on the soldiers to surrender in exchange for safety, at which point, the defenders agreed to curtly decline the offer, and responded with the remark. Subsequently, Snake Island was captured by the Russian naval forces, and the thirteen soldiers defending it were thought to have been killed in the Russian assault. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced he would "posthumously" award the soldiers on Snake Island with the highest Ukrainian honour, the Hero of Ukraine.

On 28 February 2022, the Ukrainian Navy posted on its Facebook page that all the border guards of the island were thought to be alive and detained by the Russian Navy.