New Delhi: "Go f*** yourself." These were the words Ukrainian soldiers reportedly told an officer onboard a Russian Navy warship while they were defending an island in the Black Sea as Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine.
All the 13 soldiers were killed after they refused to surrender, announced Ukrainian officials, The Guardian reported.
Situated 300 kilometres west of Crimea, Snake Island is nearly a 16-hectare (40 acre) rocky island owned by Ukraine where 13 border guards were stationed when Russian troops attacked the island, reports The Guardian.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his address after the first day of Russian invasion, announced that he would posthumously award all of the soldiers the "Hero of Ukraine" award.
"All border guards died heroically but did not give up," Zelenskiy said.
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The report stated that an audio had surfaced that had the recording of the exchange between Ukrainian border guards on Snake Island and an approaching Russian Navy vessel. The Russian officer in the audio told the Ukrainian forces on the island to “lay down your weapons,” reported the Guardian.
"This is a military warship. This is a Russian military warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed," the Russian officer was recorded as saying on a naval radio channel, the report said.
After a pause in the recording, a Ukrainian officer reportedly responded: "Russian warship, go f*** yourself".
The audio was shared by Anton Herashchenko, an advisor to the Ukraine's Interior Ministry, and by several media outlets and also on social media.