kyiv: As the war enters its 500th day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid a visit to a Black Sea island whose defenders infamously resisted a Russian warship at the start of the invasion.

In a video clip posted to social media on Saturday, he declared, "Today we are on Snake Island, which will never be conquered by the occupiers, like the whole of Ukraine. Because we are the country of the brave."

Zelensky was heard saying, "I want to thank from here, from this place of victory, each of our soldiers for these 500 days," in an undated video clip that showed him arriving on the island by boat and laying flowers at a memorial.

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On February 24, 2022, shortly after beginning its invasion, Moscow took Snake Island.

A radio conversation between Ukrainian soldiers and the crew of a Russian warship that was approaching them and demanding their surrender went viral. The captured Ukrainian soldiers were later exchanged for Russian prisoners.

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The audio of this conversation has been circulated all over the world and has become a rallying cry for the Ukrainian resistance. It has even been depicted on stamps and placards at foreign support gatherings.

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The Moskva, a Russian vessel, sank in the Black Sea in April as a result of what Moscow claimed to be an explosion on board. Ukraine claimed to have fired missiles at the warship. The island was retaken by Ukrainian forces in June of the previous year.