Ukraine's daring victory: New artillery tech strikes Snake Island
The Ukrainian attack on Snake Island and its subsequent recapture from Russian hands are among the symbolic moments of the war in Ukraine. How were the aggressors expelled from the place that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance? A recording shared by Ukrainians reveals new details.
Snake Island is a piece of land surrounded by sea, located about 20 nautical miles from the Danube's mouth, with an area just over 0.21 square kilometres. The small island, which housed a Ukrainian border guard post, became famous due to events on 24 February 2022.
The island's defenders were approached by several Russian ships, including the cruiser "Moscow," which radioed demands for their surrender. The response was a defiant, if censored, message instructing the Russian warship to go "far away."
Although the Russians quickly took control of the island, they could not hold it and withdrew by June 2022, citing a "gesture of goodwill." The real reasons were not only aerial and drone attacks but also the use by Ukrainians of new weaponry—the prototype of the Ukrainian-developed 2S22 Bohdana self-propelled howitzer—to shell the Russians.
The attack on Snake Island
The key factor was that the Bohdana had a range advantage over many other artillery systems of similar calibre, allowing shelling of Snake Island from the mainland.
Transporting it to the right place was a major challenge because Snake Island is at the range limit of Ukrainian weapons, and positioning the howitzer was difficult due to the challenging, marshy terrain.
As shown in a film discovered by Defence 24, this problem was solved by placing the prototype weapon on a barge. Using this means of transport, it was possible to reach a location from which the 2S22 Bohdana was able to shell a distant target.
Ukrainian 155 mm artillery
The 2S22 Bohdana is a Ukrainian 155 mm wheeled artillery system. Its development marked a new quality for Ukrainian artillery—Bohdana, like modern Western 155 mm artillery systems, offers a range of about 40 kilometres (tests showed that under optimal conditions, it can even reach 42 kilometres). This range can be extended to 60 kilometres using rocket-assisted ammunition.
Before the war started, Ukraine had not commenced serial production; hence, a prototype was used to shell Snake Island. In the following months, production began and—according to Ukrainian sources—this allows the delivery of about 30 howitzer units per year.
