Ukraine has put up its national flag on Snake Island for the first time since Vladimir Putin ’s forces withdrew from the strategic Black Sea outpost.
Troops from special volunteer unit Zgard inspected the blitzed Black Sea island and flew the blue-and-yellow flag after Russian soldiers fled.
Guards chief Arut Papoian said: “Snake island has always been Ukrainian and always will be. No temporary occupation will change that.
"Our battalion was the first to visit Snake Island after liberation. It was risky, but now our flag is flying on the island.
“Soon all of Ukraine will be freed. We will win together.”
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A source said: "The soldiers were on the island for 15 minutes. They hung flags, took selfies and evacuated to the mainland."
Snake Island was occupied by Russia on the first day of its invasion in February and achieved global fame when Ukrainian border guards stationed there rejected a Russian warship's demand for their surrender.
Ukrainian defenders famously told an approaching Russian warship to "go f*** yourself”.
The Russian cruiser - the Moskva - was later sunk in a Ukrainian missile strike, perhaps Vladimir Putin's biggest single humiliation of the war.
Many feared Russians seizing control of the island and Ukrainian military expert Oleh Zhdanov previously told the BBC that if Putin's troops succeeded in occupying Snake Island, or Zmiinyi Island, they would end up "controlling the sea, land and air in the north-west part of the Black Sea and in the south of Ukraine ".
Fresh footage shows the destruction of infrastructure on the remote island.
Earlier pictures purporting to show the Ukrainian flag on Snake Island in fact showed a scene from before the war.
Russian forces fled from Snake Island on 30 June after heavy Ukrainian bombardment, but Putin’s naval forces remain in the seas around it.
Ukraine portrayed the retreat as a humiliation for Russia.
Moscow claimed it was a “gesture of goodwill” and "demonstrated to the world community that the Russian Federation does not prevent the efforts of the UN to organise a humanitarian corridor for the export of agricultural products from the territory of Ukraine”.
