Snake Island The tiny speck of land playing an outsized role in Russia's war on Ukraine

Snake Island: The tiny speck of land playing an outsized role in Russia's war on Ukraine
By Tim Lister, CNN
Updated 1219 GMT (2019 HKT) May 13, 2022
Ukrainian Navy says soldiers who cursed out Russian warship are still alive 02:59
(CNN)It is just 46 acres of rock and grass with no fresh water (and no snakes either), but Snake Island in the Black Sea has taken on a totemic significance in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

The isle -- known as Zmiinyi Ostriv in Ukrainian -- lies around 30 miles (48 kilometers) off the coast of Ukraine and close to the sea lanes leading to the Bosphorus and Mediterranean.
Moscow has never laid claim to Snake Island, and it's a long way from any part of the Russian mainland. It's over 180 miles from Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. In no geographical or historical sense could Russia claim it as their own.
But history be damned because it has strategic value and the Russians clearly thought it would be easy pickings. Even before the conflict, Ukraine knew that it was vulnerable. Last year, President Volodymyr Zelensky flew to Snake Island, where are there are no voters but some sheep, to emphasize that it mattered. "This island, like the rest of our territory, is Ukrainian land, and we will defend it with all our might," he said.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/13/europe/snake-island-ukraine-strategic-war-cmd-intl/index.html