The road to Snake Island in good weather takes about two hours. At a certain section of the route, if you look at the horizon, you can see a chain of ships waiting for their turn to enter the port. This grain corridor is one of the greatest victories of the Security and Defense Forces in the fight for the Black Sea.
— It reassures me. This is what we fought for and for which many Ukrainian soldiers gave their lives,” says the commander of the special operations unit “Nobody”, part of the “Timur Special Unit” of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine with the nickname Ned, looking into the horizon.
Most of his fighters now perform tasks on land, some on combat duty on the island. Ned has been to the Snake dozens of times. The unit first landed there in 2023.
Speed — 27 knots (approximately 50 km/h). On the bow of the boat is a machine gun. The fighter with the Kozak summon equips cartridges and releases a long line through the water.
“We received new machine guns and wanted to test them in working conditions,” explains Ned. “The threat of enemy action is still very high: both aircraft and drones. The Russians did not give up their desire to return the island — it is like a bone in their throat. Yesterday, when we were here, two cruise missiles were launched at us. We managed to go down to the shelter in time. It was the first shelling of the island in a long time. I heard the arrival, it was somewhere 100 meters from the shelter and for a person with combat experience, it is quite far, so yesterday I said with relief “not for us”, - smiles the commander.
On the day of our trip it became known that a Russian Su-30 sank in the Black Sea near the island. It is possible that it was he who fired missiles at Zmiiny the day before.
- Yesterday there was a fighter with us, who in February 2022 sent the Russian ship Nahuay. He came here for the first time after his release. When we sat in the bunker, we asked him to repeat it already for Su-shka. He sent — and you see the result — a plane in the sea,” laughs Ned.
“In fact, the Russians have few experienced pilots left, so they are sent to the Black Sea as a relatively safe area for training. But, as you can see, they are not lucky here either.
We're getting closer. The sun leans towards the horizon, the water turns ultramarine blue, and the island seems to glow between the waves... From the water it looks like a real stone fortress. After a quick mooring, we finally step ashore.
— The entire territory of the island is densely mined. This was done by the Russians before the retreat. Despite all the engineering work, there are still a lot of mines, so look under your feet.
We were allowed to move around the island only accompanied by a guide and only on trampled trails, often — step by step following his footsteps.
— Animals such as cats and dogs often break down here when they leave the trails. So be careful,” says callsign fighter Phil.
There used to be goats here. All of them were blown up by mines. And the one that was left couldn't stand the loneliness and jumped off the cliff,” adds Ned ironically.
There are many cats on the island. Some have injuries. The guys tried more than once to evacuate them and transfer them to shelters on the mainland, but were refused: there are too many homeless animals now. So the fighters bring the food themselves.
“When I first came here, I didn't believe the island was so big. I imagined him small, but he turned out to be huge,” recalls Phil.
The area of the island is about 20 hectares, the length is half a kilometer. The subtropical landscape is intertwined with smoldering buildings and remnants of Russian technology. Each meter resembles a new location from the game Counter-Strike.
The thorny xerophytes — thistles and thistles — are almost everywhere wrapped in barbed tape to slow down the enemy's advance in case of defense. The fighters are on duty around the clock: the danger remains both from the sea and from the air.
Of course, it might look like a resort. But we are constantly monitoring here, in our free time we train and strengthen our positions,” says Phil.
You ask, what is the most difficult thing for me? It's a sin to regret, but when you've been here for more than three weeks, you start to feel something like seasickness — as if you're constantly being stormed and rocked. Because there are only waves around that never subside.
And this is indeed the case, the Black Sea does not know rest here, sometimes it seems that the waves speak to the stone so. There are no trees on the island, only shrubs and undersized plants, partially burned by rocket fire. So the harsh landscape of the island merges with the boundless expanse of the sea. From this he oozes loneliness and ascetic steadfastness.
And on the Snake you do not leave the feeling and foreboding of the Crimea. The left coast of the island resembles the rocky coast from Fiolent to Tarkhancut. The same clear water, the same crabs running across the ruined slabs of the pier at sunset, the same cry of cormorants that suddenly breaks the silence. But above all, the smell. The smell of salt and iodine, bitter wormwood and dry herbs, hot stone and heat. The island smells of Crimea.
It is difficult to wake up from this feeling.
After sunset, we get into the boats and head back. The island drifts away, but grabs memories somewhere inside. Everything on Zmiiny reminds of the Crimea and responds with a deep torturous longing. And at the same time, a fragile hope. The hope that the Russian fleet and aviation will turn to rust and ash will be overgrown with thistles and shrubs, as here in Zmiyne, where a burned Russian helicopter and dozens of burnt-out combat vehicles already lie. And that each of us will still be able to inhale the same smell — salt and iodine, bitter wormwood and dry herbs, hot stone and freedom — that the wind already carries over the sea.
More information about the course of events on Snake Island and its history can be found in the special material: “Who controls Snake Island controls the sea”
Vladislav Krasnoshchuk— Kharkiv artist. 1997—2002 studied at the Faculty of Dentistry of Kharkiv State Medical University. In 2004-2018 he worked in Kharkiv State Clinical Hospital of Emergency and Emergency Care named after him. O. AND. Meshchaninov. He has been engaged in photography since 2008, and in 2010 he became a member of the group “Shilo” together with Sergey Lebedinsky, Vadim Trikoz and Vasilisa Nezabar. In addition to documentary photography, which is aesthetically transformed thanks to technical manipulations, he works with archives and hand coloring — techniques that have been formed in Kharkiv photography since the late 1970s. Also combines frames with voluminous sculptural objects. He is engaged in easel and print graphics and street art.
Photographer's social networks: Facebook, Instagram
Contributors:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Karina Pilugina
Picture editor: Olga Kovalyova
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
