Roman Hrybov, a Ukrainian border guard, was serving on Snake Island – a rocky ledge south of the port of Odessa – when it came under Russian air and sea bombardment on the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. When asked to lay down his arms, Khribov responded by radio with a provocative “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.” Early reports said 13 border guards on the island had died after refusing to surrender, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying that every guard would be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine. But a few days later, Ukraine’s state border guard said the soldiers were still alive and had been captured by Russia. In addition to the confusion, the Ukrainian parliament later stated that 19 servicemen (not 13 as originally reported) had been released as part of the first major prisoner exchange with Russia. On Sunday, Zekensky told Russian journalists that “some of the soldiers died, some were taken prisoner.” “Everyone who was taken prisoner was exchanged. Russia had this proposal. “We exchanged them without hesitation. Those who died are heroes,” Zelenski said. #Ukraine Roman Khribov, the Ukrainian soldier who uttered the now-famous phrase “Russian warship, go fuck yourself” when he was asked to surrender, returned home. Hrybov and all Snake Island border guards were initially thought to have been killed. Hrybov arrested by Russians pic.twitter.com/RVzfzK3ii4 – Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova) March 29, 2022 Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that Khribov was now at his home in the town of Cherkasy and posted a video on Twitter in which Khribov appears to be receiving a medal for his actions from local authorities. Recordings of Hrybov’s Snake Island radio exchange were widely circulated on the Internet and quickly went viral on various social media channels. The phrase became a rallying cry for the defenders of Ukraine and was mentioned in a postage stamp by the Ukrainian postal service. The use of the phrase by Ukrainian society has been praised as one example of how the country has tried to undermine the legitimacy of Russia’s invasion by civilian means. However, the Snake Island incident has also been cited as a case study on how unverified information could have been disseminated during the war.