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Marines and border guards captured by the Russian military on the Zmiinyi Island are alive.
The Navy has said this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
On February 26, having received information that there could be dead and wounded Ukrainian defenders on the Zmiinyi Island, a civilian vessel of the Sapphire maritime search and rescue service was sent to the island to carry out a humanitarian mission to help the victims.
Together with the crew, fathers Vasyl Virozub, Oleksandr Chokov and their assistants agreed to leave, but they were illegally captured by the Russians.
It is indicated that the illegal seizure of a non-combatant civilian ship that did not carry out any military mission is a violation of the rules and customs of war, international humanitarian law.
Ukraine demands from the Russian Federation the immediate release of illegally captured citizens of Ukraine, and also appeals to the world community, to believers of all churches with a request to take all possible measures to influence on the Russian Federation to return Ukrainian citizens.
"Regarding the marines and border guards taken prisoner by the Russian invaders on the Zmiinyi Island. We are very glad to know that our brothers are alive and everything is fine with them! But Russian propaganda is trying to spin the "news" that the Ukrainian authorities allegedly "forgot" "buried" their subordinates. At the same time, the Marines bravely repulsed the attacks of the Russian invaders twice," the report says.
It is noted that the invaders completely smashed the infrastructure of the island - the lighthouse, towers, antennas and communication with the island was interrupted.
"Multiple attempts to contact the personnel and find out their fate were in vain. And the constant shelling from warships and aircraft of the Russian Federation did not allow delivering help to the marines," the message says.
As Ukrainian News Agency reported, on February 26, the Ministry of Infrastructure announced that Russian warships had seized and were holding the civilian rescue ship Sapphire near Zmiinyi Island in the Black Sea, and communication with the ship was lost.
On February 24, Zmiinyi Island in the Black Sea was attacked from Russian ships.
The island was captured, and communication with the border guards was lost.
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