“At around 18:00, the Russian armed forces carried out two airstrikes with phosphorus bombs on Snake Island,” Ukrainian commander Valery Zaluzhny wrote on Telegram, accusing Moscow of “disrespecting its own statements.”
The day before, the Russian army announced that it had left the symbolic territory “as a sign of good will”, having “completed” the “set tasks”.
“The only thing this opponent is consistent about is his constant accuracy in attack,” added Zaluzhny.
The officer accompanied his message with video footage showing the plane flying over Zmeiny Island and dropping at least two bombs that hit the target, leaving clear white trails in the sky, a hallmark of phosphorus bombs.
Phosphorus weapons are incendiary weapons prohibited for use against civilians but not against military targets under the 1980 Geneva Convention.
Kyiv has repeatedly accused Moscow of using these weapons since the end of February, including against civilians, which the Russian army categorically rejects.
On Thursday, the Ukrainian army congratulated itself for forcing the Russians, “unable to resist” artillery, to leave Snake Island, located in the northwestern Black Sea.
On February 24, Russia launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine that was condemned by the international community as a whole.
Most Western countries responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and tightening economic and political sanctions against Moscow.
