MOSCOW, May 9 — RIA Novosti. The Russian armed forces have repulsed several desperate attempts by the Kiev regime to seize the island of Snake, said the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov.
According to him, since May 7, on the direct instructions of Zelensky, the Ukrainian General Staff, with the direct participation of advisers from the United States and Great Britain, has planned a major provocation to capture Zmeiny. Over the past two days, Kiev has made several desperate attempts to land air and sea troops on the island, which is important for ensuring control of the northwestern part of the Black Sea.
"The enemy suffered heavy losses. During the period of repelling attacks in the area of Zmeiny, four Ukrainian aircraft were shot down in the air, including three Su-24 and one Su-27, three Mi-8 helicopters with troops on board, one Mi-24 helicopter," the general said.
He also noted that 29 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down in the air for two days, including eight Bayraktar TB-2 attack aircraft, while four similar UAVs were hit this afternoon.
"As a result of Zelensky's thoughtless provocation, more than 50 Ukrainian saboteurs were destroyed at sea and on the coast only during the landing and attempts to consolidate on the island. There were 24 bodies of dead Ukrainian servicemen left on the shore of Zmeiny Island," Konashenkov said.
Also, according to the Major General, during an attempt to land troops on the night of May 8, three armored Ukrainian amphibious assault boats of project 58181 "Centaur" with servicemen of the Ukrainian Navy were destroyed.
Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal "the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." To do this, according to him, it is planned to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, bring to trial all war criminals responsible for "bloody crimes against civilians" of Donbass.
According to the statement of the Russian Defense Ministry, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and on March 25 completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
