Russia withdraws troops from Ukraine's Snake Island

Russia has withdrawn troops from Snake Island, a strategically important Ukrainian island in the Black Sea region. The country's defense ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The move comes in response to a United Nations call for cooperation in the export of Ukraine's stalled grain to international markets, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it had withdrawn troops from "Snake Island" as a gesture of goodwill from Russia. This proves once again that Russia is not opposed to the UN proposal to build a humanitarian corridor on Ukraine's stalled grain exports. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 after a two-and-a-half-month deployment of troops along the border over the conflict between the United States and its Western ally NATO. Two days before the announcement, he recognized Ukraine's two Russian-controlled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. On Thursday, the 128th day of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. Russian forces have already taken full control of the country's two port cities of Kherson and Mariupol, the city of Liam in Donetsk province, the capital of Luhansk province Severodnetsk and part of the central province of Zaporizhzhya. On February 24, the day the operation began, Russian forces captured the strategically important Snake Island. A senior Pentagon staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on condition of anonymity said the Russian government would occupy the entire northwestern part of the Black Sea if Russian forces deployed half of their total military force in and around the island. Russian troops left Snake Island on Thursday morning in two naval ships. The Defense Ministry report said the troops would be deployed elsewhere. Meanwhile, government officials led by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have expressed outrage at the withdrawal of Russian troops from the island. They also claimed that Russian troops had been forced to leave Snake Island because they could not withstand an attack by Ukrainian defense forces. "Great! Russia has been forced to withdraw from Snake Island, unable to withstand the onslaught of our troops. We are proud of our troops. "