'Hero' Ukraine troops told invading Russians 'go f*** yourself' before being killed

Ukrainian soldiers have been hailed as heroes after giving their lives to defend their country and telling Russian troops to “go f**k yourself”.

As Russia has launched an invasion of Ukraine over the last two days, they have done so by land, sea and air. There have been reports of fatalities of both Ukrainian troops and civilians.

While defending the remote Zmiinyi Island on Thursday, 13 Ukrainian guards stationed there are all believed to have lost their lives during the invasion that started under Vladimir Putin’s orders.

Before their deaths, they had a defiant message for the aggressor, according to audio recording of the incident.

The invading Russian warship made an announcement via loudspeaker, threatening the guards: “I suggest you surrender your weapons and capitulate, or I will open fire”.

Ukrainian soldiers can be heard exchanging words, with one asking, “should I tell them to go f*ck themselves?”

In response to the Russian’s message, a Ukrainian border guard turned up the loudspeaker and replied: “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.”

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Zmiinyi Island, or Snake Island, is a strategic Black Sea island off the southeastern shoreline of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s president Zelenskyy confirmed in a video message that the 13 border guards stationed on Zmiinyi Island refused to surrender and were killed.

They are some of the 137 “heroes” that have been killed in the violence. Zelenskyy also confirmed the guards would be posthumously awarded the Hero of Ukraine medals.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.