Direct Ukrainian war, Russians leave Snake Island. The president of Indonesia: «Zelensky’s letter to Putin». But Kiev denies it

In the myth ofSnake Islandabandoned yesterday by Russian forces as a “gesture of goodwill” according to the Kremlin, under the weight of Ukrainian attacks according to Kiev, there is the whole Russian-Ukrainian war, including the mystery of underground mediations. The latest, yesterday, that of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who announces that he has delivered to Putin a message from the president Zelensky. “I have expressed my willingness to establish communication between the two leaders.” Returning to the island, the dimensions of the legend are the 17 hectares that emerge in the Black Sea, just over 3 kilometers of coastline. No trees, the wind sweeps this arid crust of land lost in the Black Sea 45 kilometers from southern Ukraine, 30 from Romania, 140 from the port of Odessa, 170 from the Romanian NATO base of Mihail Kogalniceanu. In position to control the traffic to the Bosphorus which, among other things, carries the grain now blocked in silos.

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THE ADMIRAL

Thirteen Ukrainians garrisoned the outpost when on 24 February the flagship of the Russian fleet, the “Moskva”, showed up on sight of the island and ordered the surrender. A few words on the radio: «This is a Russian military ship… I suggest you lay down your arms and surrender to avoid a bloodbath and unnecessary casualties. If not, we will bomb you. ‘ Guard Roman Gribov decides in a matter of seconds. He addresses – reports the British “Telegraph” which on the Isle of the Snakes has created almost a sequel – to a female colleague. “Well, this is it. I tell him to go get f …? This is how we understand each other ». And that’s what he actually says. “You Russian Warship, go get yourself f …” He sentence that she becomes a flag for all Ukrainians. She turns into t-shirts in stores. And in a postage stamp with a Ukrainian guarding the island showing the average index to the “Moskva”, with all her guns and her hull which, moreover, will be destroyed and sunk by the Ukrainians, to the detriment of Putin . David’s sling hits Goliath. The myth feeds on the death hoax of all thirteen “defenders” of the marine bulwark, who instead “rise” and are unexpectedly exchanged with other prisoners, returning home. Including the author of the historic response to the Russian radio operators. But the Ukrainians have never given up on reconquering the island, putting into practice a very simple strategy: to destroy everything Russian that comes close to those miserable but crucial 17 hectares of barren land.

INTELLIGENCE

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, explains that anyone who manages to hold positions on “Zmiiny Island”, the island’s name, controls “the surface and to some extent the skies of southern Ukraine, and can ban the movements of commercial ships in all directions from the south of the country “. In fact, once Russia had conquered that disputed handkerchief, it tried to install Pantsir-S, Tor-M2 and 9K35 Strela medium-short range missile launchers. He also wanted to deploy S-400 launchers there, to hit Odessa with 48N6 missiles. The last Ukrainian attack was recorded just yesterday morning: the neutralization of a Pantsir system. But previously it had all been a trickle of videos that had given wings to Ukrainian pride. Here is a drone shooting down one of the approaching Russian helicopters. The fate of the “Moskva” had made the Russian presence on the island even more precarious, not sufficiently covered by the flagship’s radar shield. Until yesterday, an announcement that hides a mystery. The Russians were the first to give an articulate version of what they present as their choice.

“On June 30, as an act of goodwill, the armed forces of the Federation completed the tasks assigned to the Island of the Snakes and withdrew the stationed garrison,” declares the Ministry of Defense. “It is therefore demonstrated to the international community that Russia does not interfere with the efforts of the UN to organize a humanitarian corridor to export agricultural products.” Kiev will no longer be able to «speculate on the subject of the imminent food crisis. Now it is up to the Ukrainian side, which has not yet cleared the Black Sea coast near its coasts ”. Words that suggest an agreement, the one on which Erdogan’s Turkey has been working for weeks, to guarantee the safety of the “grain corridors”. The Russians say: we have liberated the island, now the Ukrainians remove the mines from the waters of Odessa. But in the meantime shouts of victory are rising from Kiev. “The Ukrainian armed forces drove out the Russians,” wrote Andriy Yermak, head of the Presidential Office, on Telegram. “The enemy has left her. We forced him to do so, ”claims a spokesman for the General Staff, Oleksiy Gromov. And the myth reaches the NATO summit, with US President Biden saying: “The Snake Island has been revived, we will be with Ukraine for as long as necessary”.