As the saying goes, whoever
controls Snake Island
controls the Black Sea.
The safest way to get there.
The Ukrainian military's
inflatable speedboat
with seating for six.
It's small enough to stay out of
We are really getting tossed
around out here,
but we need to take a small boat
we need to stay out of the sight
of Russia. Reconnaissance aircra
safer than a helicopter.
But no protection from the black
Big waves bitter cold and whippi
Not to mention the mines
by the end of our stomach
churning journey.
Snake Islands, craggy
cliffs are a welcome sight.
Up close,
appear in pieces,
previews the destruction
we're about to see.
We enter Snake Island
by climbing up a pile of half
sunken, slippery sea blocks.
We're the first journalists allo
since Ukraine recaptured
Snake Island five months ago.
Russia blanketed
the island with booby traps befo
bailing out.
The soldiers told us we need to
in their footsteps. Exactly.
We need to be very careful where
This whole island is littered
with landmines, unexploded ordna
basically a powder keg,
a powder keg
with plenty of cats
wandering through the wreckage
of ten brutal months. Of war.
Not a snake in sight.
On February 24th,
the first day of Russia's full s
invasion, Russia's
Black Sea
flagship, the Moskva aimed its a
and Snake Island,
demanding dozens of Ukrainian de
surrender or die.
Yeah,
they want to get out of that
Yeah.
I feel like you don't know
what happened
next is how legends are made.
Let's give an account the five w
seen at the time
as a final act of defiance.
Everyone on Snake
Island presumed
dead, Russian bombs
raining down the island's
radio went silent.
Those five words
telling the Russian warship wher
instantly iconic, inspiring T-sh
postage stamps, pop songs,
and many
of
Ukraine
later learned
Snake Island's defenders were al
Prisoners of War.
Some released in a P.O.W.
swap earlier this year.
Others remain in Russian captivi
Is it an intimidating
to look out
and see a giant Russian warship
and know that you guys
are a small group here?
Yes, they want to discuss.
If anybody tells you
it's not intimidating, he's
a liar, says Fortuna,
a volunteer soldier.
But true, false.
It was chaos.
The garrison here was small.
Russia captured the island quick
Taking the island back took a lo
On Snake Island,
we find a graveyard of Russian w
The result of relentless
Ukrainian attacks
for several months earlier this
This is one of Russia's
most expensive
anti-aircraft weapons systems.
As you can see, not much use any
In April, Ukraine
says its missiles sank the Moskv
Where did it go?
The bottom of the Black Sea.
A humiliated
Kremlin says their flagship caug
sinking in stormy weather in May
A Ukrainian drone
strike on
Snake Island
turned this helicopter into a fi
This is what's left of that
Russian helicopter
pulverized
along with its crew of
about eight people.
A twisted relic of Russia's
ill fated
plan to transform
this remote Black Sea outpost
into a permanent aircraft carrie
What's it like to live out here?
You know what?
We need to be on guard.
24, seven.
Fortuna says so we never get bor
We notice his Russian accent.
Turns out Fortuna was born in Ru
He moved to Ukraine
and got married before the war.
Now part of a Russian volunteer
protecting Snake Island for Ukra
How do you feel about Russia now
Not so good for us.
Their enemies, no matter what.
Most of the Russian volunteer
corps lived in Ukraine
before the invasion, he says.
We were living life.
Had families. Good jobs.
And here comes Russia attacking
If some other country attacked u
we would fight to the chest.
Life on Snake
Island means almost total isolat
Soldiers
tell me the simple
act of switching on a cell phone
brings Russian rockets within 40
They say Russia attacked
the island just last month.
We are now out of time.
We've been on the island
just about an hour,
and it's important
that we get off
before the waves get too big
and before the Russians know we'
The Ukrainians say Russia blew u
Island's historic
lighthouse and museum
on the site of an ancient Greek
Evil spirits are rumored to roam
these 46 acres of rock and sand
witness to centuries of bloodshe
Ukraine is not the first nation
to control
Snake Island,
but vows it will be the last
Will Ripley, CNN,
on Snake Island, Ukraine.