Confetti emerging above the waves, Serpents' Island is a strategic point in the Black Sea, allowing both to pose heavy threats but also particularly exposed.

From the first day of the conflict in Ukraine, the Russians attacked it to seize it.

This gave rise to this episode, highlighted by the propaganda of kyiv, where Ukrainian coastguards had radioed the Russian cruiser Moskva, sunk since, to go "fuck", conferring on this pebble a weight symbolism adding to its strategic interest.

shooting platform

After claiming last week to have bombed the island and destroyed a Russian battery, the Ukrainians announced on Monday a new strike that destroyed two Russian patrol boats near the island, further illustration of its importance.

This territory of a few hectares indeed offers a threatening shooting platform everywhere around.

It is about fifty kilometers from the mouth of the Danube, one of the main rivers of Europe and an important trade route, about a hundred kilometers from Odessa and theoretically allows you to hit the entire Ukrainian coast.

It is also less than 200 kilometers from the major Romanian port of Constanta and 300 kilometers from the large Crimean Russian base in Sevastopol.

“It is a fundamental, strategic point”

In times of peace, the island offers a large maritime domain and the wealth that goes with it, in particular hydrocarbons.

Romania and Ukraine have also had to go to court to settle the dispute between them for the control of these resources.

The International Court of Justice finally ruled in 2009 and decided that the island was Ukrainian.

In this war, "it is a fundamental, strategic point that will have to be monitored: it blocks air and sea access to the entire Ukrainian coastal fringe, it poses a threat to the mouth of the Danube", explains the captain of vessel Eric Lavault, spokesperson for the French Navy.

A "shot up" for the Ukrainians?

On such a platform, the Russians "can put anti-aircraft defense equipment, anti-ship defense equipment, but also medium-range missile systems to complement the firepower of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, it is a point of support which allows to be more confident on the approaches to the Ukrainian coasts”, according to Igor Delanoë, deputy director of the Franco-Russian Observatory in Moscow and specialist in the Russian navy.

But on the other hand "the island is vulnerable", analyzes Michael Petersen of the American Naval War College.

"Any occupant can be attacked, and it's difficult to protect such a small island."

“If the Ukrainians ever take a breather, there is a blow to go up.

This can be a good subject for the engagement of special forces, ”says Eric Lavault.

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