Snake Island: A message to those thought to be lost.

On Snake Island, border guards lost their lives, and they will posthumously be awarded the titles of Heroes of Ukraine. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky in his video address on February 25, 2022. The address did not mention the marines who took up combat positions among the rocks at 03:30 on February 24.

On February 25, possibly around the time the president was recording the video, Russian paratroopers were taking Ukrainian fighters from Snake Island onto their ship — a captivity that would last for months and years for them. The promised assistance from the command at dawn on February 24 never arrived.

“At that time, I relayed the coordinates of the cruiser ‘Moskva’ and other Russian ships that had the island in their sights, thinking that our forces would strike back, that the situation would change in our favor. But that didn’t happen,” recalls Lieutenant Colonel Yaroslav Kriklivy. In February 2022, he was a senior lieutenant and officer of the 88th Marine Battalion. He became the main authority on the island on February 24 — overseeing civilians, border guards, and Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters alike.

At the request of hromadske, Yaroslav Kriklivy and his comrades from Snake Island — Vadym and Serhiy — reminisced about the first days of the large-scale war on the island, when, as the commander described, they felt like mice in a cage. Below are their direct quotes.

Vadym Nesterenko

Military personnel 35th Marine Brigade. After the capture of Snake Island by Russians, he spent almost 2.5 years in captivity.

We lived in small houses. They say there were plans to create a tourist center on Snake Island, and that’s why they were built. Our cafeteria was in another, larger building. Supplies were delivered by helicopter, and we cooked for ourselves.

Civilians working at the lighthouse and the pier kept chickens and a few sheep. There were a lot of mice on the island — I saw how seagulls expertly caught them on the ice. Wild cats lived in a cave and were impossible to approach — they would attack people. I don’t know how all these creatures survived the shelling. The winds on Snake Island were probably stronger than anywhere else. You couldn’t go on patrol without a bulletproof vest — the wind could blow you into the sea. Because of the winds, no trees grew there. In fact, nothing grew on those rocks — there was almost no soil — you couldn’t dig any trenches.

None of us thought that this chunk of stone, this island, would be of any use to someone. We were just sitting on the island, border guards were protecting the maritime border, monitoring the movement of vessels, while we were securing the island. The guys said that the border guards had more serious weapons than our rifles, but I personally never saw it. Everything on the island was designed with the assumption that no one would attack Snake Island.

On February 24, we were awakened by an alarm at 03:30. We were informed that a Russian bomber was flying towards the island. I was sitting, smoking a cigarette, thinking that it would arrive and I wouldn’t be here anymore. But I had gotten used to such thoughts since 2014 when I volunteered for the Armed Forces. That plane turned around for some reason at the border.

When the first bomber turned around at the border, we began preparing our anti-aircraft guns for battle. We had enough ammunition. If we had had proper cover, we could have fought for a long time. But there were no shelters for the anti-aircraft guns or for people on Snake Island. You could only take cover among the rocks, under the pier. Bombs fall, shatter these rocks, and small stones scatter like shrapnel. I still have many of those stones in my body, although I have already removed many.

In short, we were getting ready to shoot. But the ‘Moskva’ raised a red flag — this is a maritime law signal for declaring war. The ships moved a little away from the island, and two Russian “Sushki” arrived. On the first approach, they destroyed the lighthouse on the island and our two anti-aircraft guns. And we were left with rifles against planes. The ‘Sushki’ came in pairs every 30 or 40 minutes, making their drops. There were four or five pairs like that. And we saved ourselves from their bombs by running well, looking for any cover. And when the planes finished their work, Russian ships started firing at us.

Besides me, there were guys who had fought during ATO and OOS. I had dealt with Russians in close combat. But many of the guys panicked — there was fear. What can you expect from 22-year-old boys who had just started serving and had never been in any battles? I had experience, but I just wanted it all to end quickly.

The Russian paratroopers approached around 18:00. Perhaps from “Boyko towers”, since the Russians were sitting there. That’s about five kilometers from the island. There were three landing boats, with six men in each. If we had opened fire on them, nothing would have been left of our island — military ships and planes were behind them. The Russians landed at the pier. We did not engage them in battle — no orders were given. Our senior officer said we should wait. Then our commanders decided that we would surrender — we had no heavy weapons to counter the military ships. Our commander saved our lives because I thought I would remain on that island forever. I did everything I could.

The Russians told us to leave our weapons and come down to the pier. We just dropped our rifles — they then ran around the island collecting them. We went down and were laid face down on the pier. The Russians didn’t harm anyone; they behaved like reasonable soldiers.

When it was announced that everyone on Snake Island had died, we were still on the island. My parents were convinced for five days that I was dead. They were under a lot of stress. My mother took it very hard. I really want to know why the defenders of Snake Island were declared dead then.

I learned about our sinking of the ‘Moskva’ while in captivity. Specialists came into our cell and started hitting us. They said they were beating us because the ‘Moskva’ had sunk. It hurt a lot from that beating, but I was glad that the cruiser was gone.

Serhiy

In February 2022 — a serviceman of the 88th separate marine battalion, now — a serviceman of another unit. After the capture of Snake Island by Russians, he spent almost 2.5 years in captivity.

There was no relaxation on the island. Because we were military and each had specific duties. I was a sapper, with mines in the warehouse, all in boxes, everything labeled, everything was orderly. My duties also included servicing generators and providing electricity. We had formations three times a day, plus duties, and patrolled the island along the perimeter — it wasn’t a resort; nobody just ran around the island “visiting.” I only got to know many guys from the island while in captivity.

I had TNT, grenades, and mines. I mined the beach, which was called Ladies’ Beach, setting tripwires so that when the Russians landed, it wouldn’t be easy for them.

It quickly became clear that we could all die here. People’s expressions even changed. Nothing could be predicted. The situation changed very quickly. The day flew by — I didn’t even notice how. And the promised help never arrived.

At first, none of the guys wanted to surrender. We agreed to hold out as long as we could. But by evening, it was clear that we could no longer hold out; by evening we were pretty much… And then the commander made a decision. He raised some rag on a stick.

You lie on that pier and realize that you can’t control the situation, you don’t even guess what will happen next. You could feel that the Russians were shocked by everything that had happened. They asked how many of us had been killed, not believing that no one had been hurt, given that so many missiles and bombs had fallen on us.

The Russians allowed us to go to the toilet off the pier. We went, but many couldn’t manage it — due to nerves and cold.

There was also a cleanup group working among the Russians. They brought out the lighthouse chief and another civilian who, for some reason, did not evacuate with the other civilians from the island.

They later asked who had set the tripwires, and I replied that it was me. They forced me to take them down. When they brought me back to the pier after that, one Russian shot. I don’t know why. Probably by accident. I thought, as I stood there, that it seemed I had no holes in me.

On the morning of February 25, they stuffed us all into one of our houses — in a room where