UK special forces helped recapture island
BRITISH special forces trained Ukrainian commandos for their assault on Snake Island.
The SBS showed how to use underwater vehicles, called Driver Propulsion Devices, which carry frogmen.
SBS forces based in Dorset flew to Ukraine to brief the Ukrainian 73rd Naval Special Purpose Centre.
An Army source said: “The 73rd became the tip of the sword and provided the fighting force that landed on the island.
“The Ukrainian special forces are as tough as they come but what they have missed out on is our specialist kit and training.
“It has paid dividends with the recapture of Snake Island.”
The Ukrainian frogmen surveyed the coast for mines then gave the signal for the main group to attack.
Snake Island is a tiny but strategic rocky outcrop in the
Black Sea 22 miles off Ukraine’s south coast.
It gained international attention on the first day of the war when Russia seized it, with Ukrainian border guards rejecting calls to surrender.
The Ukrainians told Russian sailors to “Go f*** yourself” over loudspeakers.
Ukraine recaptured the island last month. The Ministry of Defence said: “We do not comment on Special Forces.”