A group of 13 Ukrainian border guards who were thought to be dead after defiantly telling a Russian ship to "go fuck yourselves" last week are alive, according to the Ukrainian Navy.
The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said on Sunday that the defenders may still be alive.
The soldiers were stationed on the small Zmiinyi Island in the Black Sea, which is also known as Snake Island in English. An apparent audio exchange shared widely last week captured one of the Ukrainian troops responding to a warning from an approaching Russian ship by telling the vessel to "go fuck yourselves."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that all of the Snake Island soldiers had died in the Russian attack.
Recent updates suggest that is not the end of the story.
13 soldiers fought back against two Russian attacks on the island but were forced to surrender due to a lack of weapons. The navy said that Russian forces destroyed the island's infrastructure, including lighthouses, antennas, and towers.
The navy said attempts to contact the team and learn what happened were futile.
Russian media reported that the Snake Island guards had been captured by Russian forces and were taken to the largest city on the Russian-controlled Crimea Peninsula.
The navy confirmed on Monday that the guards are being held in Sevastopol, 180 miles from Zmiinyi Island, which is located off the southern tip of the Ukrainian mainland in the northwest.
The navy noted that the capture of a civilian ship violates the rules and customs of international humanitarian law and war.
The navy said that they demand from Russia the immediate release of illegally occupied citizens of Ukraine.
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