13 Ukrainian border guards who died in the line of duty, defending Zmiinyi island from Russian occupiers, will be posthumously awarded the Hero of Ukraine title.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this in his address to the Ukrainian people.
“All border-guard boys died defending our Zmiinyi island to the last. They did not retreat. All of them will be honoured as Heros of Ukraine. We will never forget those who sacrificed their lives for Ukraine,” said the President.
We remind that on 24 February, the enemy on Zmiinyi island repeatedly tried to frighten the Ukrainian defenders and demanded their retreat. Despite those attempts, the border guards bravely held the line. All 13 border guards died in the battles, and the island was captured by the occupiers.
Zmiinyi is an island in the Black Sea forming a part of Kiliia district in Odesa region. The residential buildings on the island are the town of Bile.
The status of Zmiinyi island was crucial during the hearing in the International Court of Justice about the territorial dispute between Ukraine and Romania, concerning the delimitation of continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, rich in reserves of oil and gas. On 3 February 2009 the decision was made to consider Zmiinyi an island and not a cliff.