Ukrainian officials released a video of an alleged military drone strike on a Russian Mi-8 Hip-type helicopter at the island in the Black Sea.
The footage was reportedly filmed at Ukraine’s Zmiinyi Island, or Snake Island, in the western Black Sea.
Footage of the strike released by Ukrainian forces shows a Russian transport helicopter with soldiers they are suddenly hit by a Ukrainian Bayraktar TB-2 drone.
Apparently, the Russian military decided that it was too dangerous to deliver infantry by sea and decided to use a helicopter. Shortly before this, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed two Raptor-type boats and one Project 11770 Serna landing craft near Zmiinyi Island.
Zmiinyi Island lies in the north-western Black Sea, about 48km (30 miles) from the Ukrainian coast and 300km west of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. It has a strategic importance that belies its size – only about 16 hectares (40 acres).
The Island also became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance after a radio exchange went viral at the start of the war, in which Ukrainian soldiers used an expletive in rebuffing a demand by the Russian warship Moskva to surrender.
The Moskva sank in the Black Sea in mid-April following the warship being hit with two Neptun missiles.
On #SnakeIsland, the Ukrainian Army has destroyed the Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Army with #BayraktarTB2. pic.twitter.com/0yDtWJt1qb
— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 8, 2022