Russia withdraws from snake island: Russian forces abandon strategic black sea outpost

Russia on Thursday withdrew from Snake Island, a craggy speck of land in the Black Sea, handing Ukraine a symbolically-potent political victory and depriving Moscow of a strategic outpost for its air defences and electronic warfare systems.

The island's capture by Russian forces on the first day of their invasion entered Ukrainian folklore as a tale of bold resistance after Kyiv said that one of its border guards had told a Russian warship demanding their surrender to "fuck off".

Lifting the spirit of Kyiv residents worn down by Russia's grinding eastern advance, Ukraine's military said on Thursday it had driven Russia from the island with artillery and missile strikes.