Ukrainian flag reinstalled on Zmiinyi Island as military operation comes to end

The Defense forces returned Zmiinyi Island under Ukraine’s control.

This was announced by Natalia Humeniuk, Head of the Press Center of South Ukraine’s Defense Forces. She spoke at a briefing at the Ukraine – Ukrinform Media Center.

“The flag of Ukraine has been installed on Zmiinyi Island, the military operation has been completed, and Ukraine’s jurisdiction there has been reinstated,” she said.

Natalia Humeniuk also noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are gradually advancing in the south, but they aren’t announcing their successes yet.

“Our troops are advancing in a specific way – slowly but surely. We’ve mentioned before that we keep quiet when liberating an area. We must consolidate our positions first before announcing success,” she said.

She emphasized that on land, the enemy does not have major successes leading them to use air and missile strikes tactics instead.

On June 30, the Operational Command “South” reported that the Russians escaped from the Zmiinyi Island.

“As a result of a successfully completed stage of the military operation, after multiple fire strikes by missile and artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Zmiinyi Island, the enemy hastily evacuated the remains of their garrison,” the OC “South” noted.

The Defense Forces showed Ukrainian 2S22 Bohdana 155-mm wheeled self-propelled howitzer and Bayraktar TB-2 drones being used during the operation.

On the evening of July 1, the Russian forces conducted an air strike on the island of Zmiinyi. Russian command used a pair of Su-30 fighter jets, which took off from Belbek airbase.

On July 3, photos of the Russian forces escaping from Zmiinyi Island were released. The pictures show Mi-8/17 and Mi-24/35 helicopters “evacuating” invaders.

The Russians left behind the Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system and a radar that resembles the P-18 radar.