Ukraine’s ‘Magnificent 13’ Died Defending Democracy Against Authoritarian Russians (Updated)

Permanent musical accompaniment: No Surrender (Live) by Bruce Springsteen:

[Chorus]
Well we made a promise we swore we’d always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Like soldiers in the winter’s night with a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender

Ukraine has its first heroes of this war, the “Magificent 13” who stood their ground and died defending democracy aginst authoritarian Russians. Songs will be written about these courageous men someday.

What sacrifice are you willing to make to defend democracy against creeping authoritarianism?

The Daily Mail (London) reports, ‘Russian warship, go f*** yourselves’: Final words of Ukrainian border guards protecting Snake Island – just 40 miles from Romanian border in the Black Sea – before Kremlin navy opened fire killing all 13 of them when they refused to surrender:

All Ukrainian border guards protecting a tiny island in the Black Sea from Russian invaders were killed yesterday after refusing to surrender to warmonger Vladimir Putin’s forces and defiantly telling a Kremlin warship: ‘Go f**k yourselves!‘.

Are we sure these were not U.S. Marines? “Oo-rah!”

The small contingent of soldiers, reportedly 13 in number, were posted on Snake Island in the Odessa region near NATO ally Romania and were defending the territory after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine early Thursday morning.

In a radio message, the soldiers were told by a sailor on board the vessel: ‘This is Russian military warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed.’ However, the Ukrainian troops defiantly refused to give up the territory, and instead replied: ‘Go f**k yourselves!‘.

The Russian soldiers on radio are heard muttering the curse back at the Ukrainians, before all the border guards were killed in an aerial bombardment. Their deaths were later acknowledged by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

A video circulating on Twitter also appeared to show the moment that the island was shelled. It showed a Ukrainian soldier staring at a camera before a shell landed nearby.

On Thursday afternoon, Ukraine’s interior ministry had said Snake Island, which is also called Zmiinyi, had been attacked by Russian forces.

The island is ruled by Ukraine but sits just miles from the coast of Romania. Snake Island is strategically important because it will allow Russia to claim territorial waters stretching 12 nautical miles out to sea. They cover important shipping channels to the port cities of Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kherson. After taking the island, Russia would have been able to cut off the shipping channels, isolating Ukraine from international markets and depriving its economy of vital trade revenues as it seeks to defend itself.

For those who have sacrificed their lives so that we may be free –

We remember you, we honor you, we love you and we humbly thank you for your service. A simple “thank you” is not enough for all that you’ve endured. We pray that you live on through the loving memories shared by your family and loved ones. We pray that the strife, battles and wounds of war be calmed for eternity in God’s loving grace. May you find rest at last and know that those left behind cherish your spirit, honor your commitment, send their love and will never forget your sacrifice.

UPDATED 2/28/22: An object lesson in the “fog of war”: Huffington Post reports, Garrison Of Ukrainian Troops That Resisted Russian Warship May Still Be Alive:

A garrison of Ukrainian soldiers that refused to surrender to invading Russian forces may still be alive, officials said this weekend.

[O]n Saturday, Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service wrote on Facebook that the border guards on Snake Island, which is about 30 miles off the coast of Ukraine and a strategic post in the Black Sea, may have been taken to the port city of Sevastopol, which is under Russian control on the Crimean Peninsula.

Officials had assumed the 13 soldiers died after they lost contact with the garrison, which was destroyed by the Russian military in an artillery attack.

“We [have] strong beliefs that all Ukrainian defenders of Zmiiniy Island may be alive,” the agency wrote, citing Russian media reports that they were instead taken prisoner. “We sincerely hope that the boys will return home as soon as possible.”