The 13 ‘Executed’ Soldiers on Snake Island Might Be Alive – Updated

So, the 13 border guards who died on Snake Island are alive? We’re happy to hear it, if true, but not happy to know we were possibly snookered with propaganda.

Another caveat – we don’t know if this is one of the ‘dead’ soldiers or if Zelensky had misinformation. Someone is lying. We don’t know who. We need fact-checkers but they can’t be trusted either.

Allegedly, this is one of the soldiers telling the Russians to go to Hell. But are they dead?

Does anyone speak Ukrainian? Not that we know if this soldier is legit.

We have a partial translation from AFB.

If true, we are very happy to hear they are alive, and we hope the Ukrainian marine who blew himself up on the bridge to stop the Russians is also alive.

A news report out of CNN, a most unreliable news service, reported this:

The defenders of the small Ukrainian island of Zmiinyi in the Black Sea may still be alive, according to a statement released on Saturday by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGSU).

“We [have a] strong belief that all Ukrainian defenders of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island may be alive,” the statement said.

Both President Zelensky and the SBGSU said Friday all the soldiers had been killed following the small island’s capture by Russian forces. 

Preliminary information that border guards may be dead came before the defenders lost contact,” Saturday’s statement said.

On Friday, Russian Major-General Igor Konashenkov said 82 Ukrainian servicemen “laid down their arms and voluntarily surrendered to a unit of the Russian Armed Forces.”

The SBGSU statement added, “Russian media reported that Ukrainian servicemen on the island had been sent to Sevastopol” in Crimea.

On Friday, audio emerged of an exchange between the Ukrainian fighters and an officer of the Russian navy. In the exchange, the Ukrainians were heard to say to “Russian warship – go f*** yourself.”

Our conclusion is we don’t know who is telling the truth and won’t know for a while. So, get some chips, a beer, and turn on the TV.

WaPo, also unreliable, writes:

Zelenskyy said he would award each of the 13 troops who “died heroically” with the title Hero of Ukraine, the Washington Post reported.

“May the memory of those who gave their lives for Ukraine live forever,” he added.

But the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine provided hope the soldiers might still be alive.

“As previously reported, on February 24, the aggressor fired from naval weapons and used combat aircraft on border guards and soldiers of the Armed Forces on the island of Zmiiny. According to available information at the time, the infrastructure was destroyed and the island captured,” it wrote in the post.

The account added: “Prior to that, the enemy repeatedly tried in vain to intimidate Ukrainian defenders with demands to surrender and received only one correct answer – no one will surrender.”

“We understand that Russian propagandists know how to make the necessary information attacks and use them, noting that Ukrainian defenders have surrendered,” it continued, “Border guards and fighters of the Armed Forces bravely defended themselves, especially in the face of the overwhelming means of defeat and enemy forces.”

As we said, we might not figure this out. Turn on the tv, go for a walk, take the kids for a bike ride.

Update: After publication, we added the clip purporting to show the Snake Island border guards telling Russians to go to Hell.

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