The 13 Ukrainian border guards who were reportedly massacred while defending a small Black Sea island after telling a Russian warship to “Go f–k yourself” may still be alive, officials said.
“We [have a] strong belief that all Ukrainian defenders of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island may be alive,” the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGSU) said in a statement Saturday.
“Preliminary information that border guards may be dead came before the defenders lost contact.”
The story of the brave soldiers defiantly refusing to surrender their post on Snake Island made headlines across the globe after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine had both confirmed that they were wiped out two days ago.
Now there is hope that they are still alive.
According to the border agency, Russian media reported that the soldiers had been captured after they laid down their arms and were transported to Sevastopol on the Russian-controlled Crimea Peninsula. SBGSU noted that this information has not been confirmed.
Hellbound and Down 