The clearing of Zmiinyi Island (Snake Island) from the enemy was not only a military, economic and psychological victory for Ukraine, but also allowed to partially unblock the Black Sea. The chiefs of the SSU’s Special Operations Center ‘A’ spoke about the role of the Security Service in this operation and its details in the documentary presented today by journalist Ramina Eskhakzai.

‘The liberation of Zmiinyi is one of the significant victories over the enemy. Not only a military one, but also economic and psychological. It allowed us to unblock the Black Sea. It was an honour for the SSU Special Operations Center ‘A’ to participate in this special operation and to carry it out with dignity,’ Yevhen Khmara, Head of the SSU’s ‘A’ Centre said.

According to him, the preparation was thorough and balanced: collecting information, working out the details using a mock-up of the island, and individual and group training.

‘Each soldier understood his assignment, which was planned minute by minute. The task of liberating Zmiinyi was extremely difficult, but this is the designation of the ‘A’ special force. After all, each SSU special purpose officer has undergone unique training and can perform the most complex missions. We have been preparing for such special operations all our lives,’ the head of ‘A’ task force taking part in liberating Zmiinyi, call sign ‘Kot’, revealed.

He described how the assault on the island was performed.

‘Several of our combat groups were brought to the island by helicopters. They took off from an airfield on the mainland and flew at a very low altitude. The first landing attempt failed - the enemy raised their aircraft and did not let us land. We landed on Zmiinyi after being hit again,’ recalls the fighter of the SSU’s Special Operations Centre ‘A’.

The enemy immediately opened heavy fire, and the assault team entered into active fire contact and was moving almost through a minefield. ‘The russians then tried to activate the minefields detonation system. But our fighters neutralized that attempt and thus saved many lives,’ ‘Kot’ noted.

Unfortunately, during this special operation, two ‘A’ officers were killed. Both fighters were posthumously awarded the highest title - Hero of Ukraine.

‘This is an example of extraordinary dedication of Ukrainian defenders, who are ready to perform missions of any complexity for the sake of Victory, even at the cost of their lives. We must appreciate the efforts these guys made. We should remember the names of our fallen Heroes,’ the Head of the SSU’s ‘A’ Centre Yevhen Khmara emphasized.

Since the war began, the SSU Special Operations Centre ‘A’ has been performing extremely challenging missions. Together with other Heroes, they prevented the enemy from reaching Kyiv. They held the defence of Bakhmut, Rubizhne, Bilohorivka and Sievierodonetsk. The unit took part in liberating Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. Now, they are making every effort to chase the enemy out of all other areas of Ukraine under occupation.