Ukrainian border guards to Russian warship: ‘Go f— yourself’

Border guards on Ukraine’s Snake Island on Thursday delivered a defiant message to a Russian warship demanding they surrender or be attacked.

The guards’ response to the request: “Russian warship, go f— yourself.”

Video of the encounter has gone viral on social media after it was shared by a Ukrainian news outlet. A Ukrainian official confirmed its authenticity to The Washington Post.

In video of the incident, you can hear the approaching ship warn the border guards. 

“I am a Russian warship,” the person said in a call to the island. “I ask you to lay down your arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary deaths. Otherwise, you will be bombed.”

After a brief discussion among the guards, they responded back to the ship.

A Ukrainian soldier on a tiny island in the Black Sea didn’t hold back when threatened with bombing by a Russian warship as Moscow continued its assault on Ukrainian territory https://t.co/xaA4SyP6en

— CNN (@CNN) February 25, 2022

The 13 guards were reportedly killed after Russia then opened fire on the island. 

“On our Zmiinyi Island, defending it to the last, all the border guards died heroically,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his website, according to Reuters. “But they did not give up. All of them will be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.”

Hundreds of troops were killed on the first day of Russia’s military assault on Ukraine.

Attention is now on the capital city of Kyiv as Russian forces close in on the populated area. 

—Updated at 10:08 a.m.