A Ukrainian soldier who told an officer on a Russian warship to “go fuck yourself” at the start of the invasion has been released as part of a prisoner exchange and awarded a medal for his services, the Ukrainian ministry of defence said on Tuesday.
Roman Hrybov, a Ukrainian border guard, was serving on Snake Island – a rocky outcrop south of the port of Odesa – when it came under Russian air and sea bombardment on the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
