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.