The author of the phrase about the Russian warship revealed how the marines from Snake Island were resurrected.

The author of the legendary phrase about the Russian warship, senior sergeant Roman Gribov spoke about how his exchange from Russian captivity took place and what happened to the Ukrainian marines who were considered dead on Snake Island on February 24, 2022. He shared this in an interview with 'Glavkom'.

My exchange was the first (since the start of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation, 'Glavkom'). It was, how should I put it, somewhat unofficial: the media did not meet us, and no one posted a video on social networks. I ended up in the exchange together with rescuers from the Odesa unit 'Sapphire', who were sent to Snake Island to retrieve our bodies, since in the media we were immediately 'buried' on February 24, - noted the marine.

The military revealed that at the Time of his return from captivity, there were still no regulations allowing military personnel not to return to service, so he contacted his unit, which granted him seven days of leave.

'I was lucky to rest a bit longer, as Igor Taburets, the head of our Cherkasy military-civil administration, asked for me. While presenting me with the award 'For Merits to Cherkasy', he asked what I would like? I replied that I wanted to have a bit more time off. Then Taburets contacted my command, and I was given another week,' reported the senior sergeant.

Roman Gribov added that before the New Year of 2022, the marines held training on Snake Island, as it is a strategic object located on the border of Ukraine's territorial waters. At the same time, he noted that despite its strategic importance, Snake Island was not properly armed:

'Right now, I don't see what our role was there, the marine unit. What could we do against Russian ships when the largest caliber we had was an anti-aircraft gun of the 23rd caliber, which cannot cause any harm to any ship? At that time, I was the commander of the portable anti-aircraft missile system 'Igla'. So we could somehow fight with aviation, but against a cruiser - no way; it's like going against a tank with a stick.'

The soldier also recalled what happened after he uttered the phrase about the Russian warship: 'We said goodbye to each other because we could not imagine that there was a way out of such a situation - their aviation was hitting us well, and initially, the cruiser 'cheered us up' with its 30-caliber cannons.'

Let us remind you that on February 24, 2022, Russian military ships approached the defenders of Snake Island: the missile cruiser 'Moskva', the frigate 'Admiral Essen' and the patrol ship 'Vasily Bykov'. The garrison of the island was offered to surrender. However, the Ukrainian border guards and marines decisively refused, responding with a short but significant phrase: 'Russian warship, go f*ck yourself!'. In response, Russian forces dealt a massive missile-artillery strike on the garrison.

Later it became known that the military, who resisted the Russian occupiers on Snake Island, remained alive and fell into captivity. On March 6, 2022, a photo of the author of the phrase about the 'Russian warship' appeared on the internet. It turned out that the legendary marine is named Roman Gribov, and he hails from Zolotonosha, which is in Cherkasy region. At the end of March, the military, released from Russian captivity, returned to his homeland in Cherkasy region. The head of Cherkasy OVA awarded him the honor 'For Merits to Cherkasy'.