KYIV — Ukrainian border guards placed a new sign on Snake Island this weekend, recalling the early hours of Russia’s invasion when a comrade on the strategic Black Sea outcrop used a choice phrase to refuse to surrender to a warship. ADVERTISEMENTTiny Snake Island became synonymous with Ukrainian resistance in the first hours of the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion, when Russian officers on the Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva radioed Ukrainian guards stationed there and ordered them to surrender or die. The strategic island overlooks sea lanes to Odesa, Ukraine’s main Black Sea port. On April 14, 2022, two Ukrainian missiles struck the Moskva, the biggest warship sunk in combat for 40 years. On June 30, Russia abandoned Snake Island after taking heavy losses trying to defend it.
