According to Ukraine, Russian troops may have captured Snake Island in the Black Sea.
The border guard service announced on Thursday evening that it had lost contact with the border guard and soldiers there. Throughout the day, "the enemy" had surrounded the island and fired on it with ship cannon.
It is one of the few islands Ukraine owns. It is strategically important, especially for rights to mineral resources in the sea, and has long been disputed between Romania and Ukraine.
The small Snake Island was the subject of an amicably settled territorial dispute between Romania and Ukraine in the early 2000s.
