Joe Brolly has hailed the actions of Ukrainian soldiers, who are said to have died while fighting off Russian forces, as 'awe inspiring and heroic'.
Ukrainian officials have reported that 13 of their soldiers on Zmiinyi (Snake) Island died after they refused to follow orders from a Russian warship to surrender their weapons.
A video, which appeared online, sees an officer on the warship deliver an ultimatum to the Ukrainian soldiers, saying: "I am a Russian military ship. I repeat, I am a Russian military ship.
"I am proposing you put down your arms immediately to avoid bloodshed and unjustified deaths. In the worse case you will be hit with a bomb strike."
They then repeated the message, demanding acknowledgement.
When given the ultimatum from a Moscow warship demanding surrender, the border guards defiant response came by radio, they said: “F*** it as well. Russian warship go f*** yourself!”
Brolly, a GAA pundit and barrister, commended the brave actions of the Ukrainian soldiers.
"This is why human beings can never truly be subjugated," he tweeted of the incident. "A spirit of rebellion and honour deep down that says ‘Fuck You’ in the face of impossible odds. Tragic, but at the same time awe inspiring and heroic."
Ukraine said that the men were killed in the gunfire however Russia claimed today that the men, and others on the island, are all alive and unharmed.
"All border guards died heroically but did not give up. They will be awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously," Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Snake Island sits about 30 miles (48 kilometers) off the southern tip of the Ukrainian mainland in the northwestern Black Sea. It's about 185 miles (300 kilometers) west of Crimea, the Ukrainian territory that Russia annexed in 2014.
Russia has consistently attempted to play down or minimise the full-scale invasion and denied targeting civilians in their bombing campaign in Kyiv, despite significant evidence otherwise.
A statement from the Russian defence ministry, known for sewing disinformation, said: "In the area of the Zmeiny (Snake) Island, 82 Ukrainian servicemen laid down their arms and voluntarily surrendered to a unit of the Russian Armed Forces.
“At present, they are being asked to sign a refusal to take part in hostilities.
“In the near future they will be returned to their families”.
Ukraine officials say that 13 men were all slaughtered in a hail of missile fire.
In the moments before the attack, the border guards said: “They struck there and also there [with their missiles], '' says one.
He asks: “They try to scare us, or what…?
“So far nothing is destroyed.
“Cannot understand what they’re doing, most likely trying to scare us.
"They strike the rocks.”
Soon afterwards the men were reportedly killed in a huge strike from the warship, but Russia maintain they are alive and kept as prisoners.
This comes during the second day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as it is confirmed Russian forces have reached towns only 15 miles outside of Kyiv.
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