Ukrainian Border Guards Feared to Have Died While Defending Island Are Alive, Navy Says

Zmiinyi (Snake) Island, a roughly 40-acre speck of land located south of the port of Odessa in the Black Sea. Courtesy of Ukrainian Navy

More than a dozen Ukrainian border guards who were awarded the title “Hero of Ukraine” after they were believed to have died while defending a small island in the Black Sea from a Russian bomb attack are actually still alive, according to the Ukrainian Navy.

“We are very happy to learn that our brothers are alive and well,” the Ukrainian Navy said in a statement posted on its official Facebook page, noting that the border guards were “taken captive by Russian occupiers on Snake Island.”