The battle for the strategic outcrop has shaken the fishing village of Vylkove, where boats can no longer put out to sea
It is remote, inhospitable, windswept and largely uninhabited, but it has been fought over for centuries. Legend has it that the rocky outcrop in the Black Sea was created by the sea god Poseidon as a home for the greatest of all Greek warriors: Achilles. And just like the demigod, the small, cross-shaped island has seen its share of wars. Today, the tiny piece of land is known as Snake Island (Zmiinyi Island), and on Monday Ukrainian forces raised the country’s flag there once again after seizing the island back from Russian occupiers, driven away after months of heavy bombardment.
The fight for Snake Island has strategic value, but most important it is of national significance for all Ukrainians, especially in their country’s darkest hour, with their back to the wall in Donbas. However, in the tiny fishing village of Vylkove, on the Ukrainian side of the Danube River and the closest inhabited area to the Island, the battle to regain control over this outcrop has upended the lives of inhabitants.
