Satellite images taken after Ukraine regained control of Snake Island showed destruction left behind by Russian troops
New satellite imagery shows a torched and battered Snake Island left behind by Russian forces.
Russians had occupied the island since the early days of its invasion into Ukraine until this week.
The territory was where a Ukrainian guard told an advancing Russian warship to "go fuck yourself."
Satellite images of Ukraine's recently-liberated Snake Island show destroyed buildings and landscapes with smoke billowing after Ukrainian forces drove out Russian occupiers.
The island, located in the Black Sea, is also known as Zmiinyi Island and was the location where a young Ukrainian guard bravely told an incoming Russian warship to "go fuck yourself" in the first days of Russia's invasion.
On Thursday, Russia confirmed that its troops had left the island and said they had done so as a "gesture of goodwill," although they failed to set up a military base there over several months of occupation. Ukraine claimed that a successful missile campaign this week had finally driven them out.
Below is a satellite photo of Snake Island ahead of Russia's occupation.
The following satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies show the extent of the damage left behind by the Russians and by aerial campaigns by both countries as they warred over control of the Ukrainian territory.
Alongside the smoke billowing out of various structures, the brown patches encompassing much of the island represent burned agriculture, according to Maxar. In the middle of the island, buildings were destroyed as well.
In the above photo, on the northern tip of the island, multiple structures leading to the sea are seen smoking and crumbled.
It is unclear if the destroyed structures were set up by Russians prior to Thursday, or whether it was all Ukrainian infrastructure that was demolished.
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