The Ukrainian Snake Island sailors who told a Russian warship to “go f–k yourself” before they were captured a month ago have been freed in a prisoner swap with Moscow.
The 19 sailors were released from Russian captivity on Thursday, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereschuk revealed.
In exchange, Ukraine freed 11 Russian civilian sailors they had rescued from a sunken ship near Odessa, Vereschuk said. It wasn’t immediately clear when the Russian sailors were captured.
“As a result of this exchange, 19 Ukrainian civilian sailors are returning home from the rescue ship Sapphire, which was captured by the occupiers while trying to take our troops from the island of Snake,” the deputy PM said.
The Ukrainian sailors were captured at the beginning of the invasion as they defended Snake Island in the Black Sea.
They were initially presumed dead after defiantly refusing to surrender as a Russian warship approached and ordered them to “lay down your weapons … to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary deaths. Otherwise, you will be bombed.”
Moments later, the Ukrainians replied: “Russian warship, go f–k yourself.”
Audio of the Ukrainians’ brave exchange quickly went viral.
It emerged days later that the Snake Island defenders had survived the attack — but had been taken captive after running out of ammunition.
Before they were deemed to be survived, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky promised to decorate the presumed-dead border guards with the nation’s highest honor.
