Gigih Perjuangan Pulau Senlon Jadi Peringatan Terhadap Rusia, Presiden Zelensky: Negara Kita Tidak Akan Hancur

Illustration of Lapang Island in the Black Sea. (Wikimedia Commons/Unifiedо rollingонак)

JAKARTA - President Volodymyr Zelensky said raising the Ukrainian flag on snake Island in the Black Sea is a clear sign his country will not be destroyed, after President Vladimir putin warned the West that efforts to defeat them would only bring tragedy to Ukraine.

In a speech to parliamentary leaders, President Putin said Russia had just started in Ukraine and the prospect of negotiations would recede the longer the conflict drag on.

"We have heard time and time again that the West wants to fight us until the last Ukraine. This is a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but it seems that everything is heading in this direction," he said.

Regarding the statement, President Zelensky, in his evening video message on Thursday, responded challengingly, saying a two-month operation to retake snake Island was a warning to all Russian troops.

"Let every Russian captain, on board a ship or plane, look at the Ukrainian flag on snake Island and let him know that our country will not be destroyed," President Zelensky stressed.

The snake island, a point south of the port of Odesa, has become a symbol of Ukraine's determination.

In February, when ordered to hand over, the small Ukrainian garrison on the island vowed to their Russian strikers and was hit by airstrikes.

Russia left the island at the end of June in what it said was a signal of good faith, victory for Ukraine that Kyiv hoped could loosen Moscow's blockade against the Ukrainian port.

On Thursday Ukraine raised the blue-yellow flag on snake Island which was captured again. Moscow responded with its warplanes attacking the island and destroying parts of the Ukrainian detachment there, he said.

President Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, in what he called a "special military operation" to demunicate Ukraine, eradicate dangerous nationalists and protect Russian-speaking speakers. Ukraine and its allies say Russia is launching imperial-style land grabbing.

Europe's biggest conflict since the Second World War has killed thousands, millions displaced and razed a number of cities in Ukraine. Kyiv and the West accuse Russian forces of war crimes, but Moscow says it is not targeting civilians.