The Ukrainian army has recaptured Snake Island. From the point of view of the Bundeswehr, the island in the Black Sea is of little strategic importance. A secret dossier reveals that the recapture is only of symbolic value militarily.
According to Bundeswehr experts, the withdrawal of Russian troops from Snake Island in the Black Sea is only of symbolic value. With the withdrawal announced on Thursday, Russia wants to show that it is not hindering the export of grain and agricultural products from Ukraine, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow on Thursday. “On June 30, as a show of goodwill, Russian forces completed their assigned tasks on Snake Island.” Ukraine had previously reported an attack on the island.
“Business Insider” has a confidential Bundeswehr dossier from mid-May. This secret paper shows what the recapture of Snake Island means for Ukraine and the course of the war: The naval command classifies the island as a “far-reaching observation post”. With its help, up to 50 kilometers of sea space and up to 100 kilometers of airspace surveillance is possible. However, according to the experts, there is obviously not much that can be done militarily with this. Neighboring Crimea is at least 180 kilometers away. The port city of Odessa, which was also fought over for a long time, is 150 kilometers away.
“From a naval perspective, Snake Island has no strategic importance,” the paper says. The importance of the island for Ukraine and Russia is more of a symbolic nature. In fact, the Russians could have monitored aircraft movements on NATO’s western flank with radar systems but didn’t do that.
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