Ukrainian service members install a national flag on Snake (Zmiinyi) Island, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Odesa region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released July 7, 2022. Tiny Snake Island became synonymous with Ukrainian resistance in the first hours of the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion, when Russian officers on the Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva radioed Ukrainian guards stationed there and ordered them to surrender or die. The strategic island overlooks sea lanes to Odesa, Ukraine's main Black Sea port. On April 14, 2022, two Ukrainian missiles struck the Moskva, the biggest warship sunk in combat for 40 years. On June 30, Russia abandoned Snake Island after taking heavy losses trying to defend it.

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Persons: Serhiy Deineko, Deineko, Maria Starkova, Elaine Monaghan, Sandra Maler Organizations: Press, Ukrainian Armed Forces, REUTERS, Facebook, Black Sea Fleet, Snake, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Odesa region, Ukrainian, Ukrainian Crimea, Moskva, Russia, Kyiv, Washington