Commentary by Russian news source Zvezda News
The idea of ​​the operation to capture Serpentine came to the Ukrainian authorities from London. The goal was to overshadow the celebration of Victory Day in Russia, the DPR and the LPR;
The assault on the island began on the evening of May 7 after a lengthy reconnaissance of Serpentine from Ukrainian UAVs;
With the onset of darkness, three Ukrainian Su-24 bombers with a covering Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 fighter, flying up to the island at extremely low altitudes, launched a bombing strike. The duty aviation forces of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed all enemy aircraft over the sea;
After the strike, the enemy sent the first landing troops to the island. The special forces units of the main intelligence department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry on three landing assault boats of the Centaur project approached the Serpent, having managed to land 24 saboteurs. All Ukrainian boats were flooded, eliminating the possibility of evacuation. During the ensuing battle, the Russian military managed to push the enemy's special forces to the coast and destroy
Kiev made another attempt to storm. Under the cover of a Mi-24 helicopter, three Mi-8 transport-landing troops with special forces on board advanced to the island. In one of the Mi-8s there was the coordinator of the landing of units - the Deputy Commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for Aviation - Colonel Igor Bedzai;
The entire helicopter group, when approaching the island, was destroyed by Russian Aerospace Forces fighters. The pilots, the landing force and the coordinator of the operation were killed.
Another six helicopters for the landing of the second wave were in full readiness at a military airfield in the Odessa region. The airfield was hit by high-precision weapons of the Russian Aerospace Forces, which destroyed six Ukrainian Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters;
Within two days, aviation of the Black Sea Fleet and air defense systems destroyed 30 Ukrainian UAVs in the Zmeinoye area, including nine attack "Bayraktar-TB2";
The action invented by the West led to the senseless death of more than 50 Ukrainian militants and servicemen of the elite units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the loss of four aircraft, 10 helicopters, three boats and 30 UAVs;
Footage with killed saboteurs on Serpentine here
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
As for our losses. From what was published it is known about:
1. Damaged Tor air defense system (the enemy declared it destroyed)
2. Destroyed ZU-23 / 2 (1-2 pieces)
3. Destroyed Mi-8 helicopter
4. Destroyed landing boat of the "Serna" type "(it seems to have been lifted there by a crane the other day - the condition is unknown, but apparently they will let it go to the metal)
5. Two damaged / destroyed patrol boats of the Raptor type.
6. Losses in people are unknown, but they were when the UAV hit boats and a helicopter.
7. Most of the ground buildings of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the island are seriously destroyed.
Ukraine indirectly acknowledged the failure of the attempt to capture Zmiyiny Island (in addition, some names of the dead officers became known), but stated that it would continue attempts to capture it. In the following days, several more UAVs were shot down over the island, including two Bayraktars.
Of the unsubstantiated claims
1. From our side, they wrote in social networks that foreign military advisers died on the island. So far, there is no actual confirmation of this information. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has not officially confirmed this topic.
2. On the part of Ukraine, they wrote about the defeat by missiles and even the sinking of the frigate "Admiral Makarov" and the auxiliary ship "Vsevolod Bobrov." Both ships were seen in Sevastopol after May 8 without visible damage. But familiar sailors confirm.
In general, this story somewhat smoothed over the painful impression after the loss of "Moscow", and the Black Sea Fleet confirmed its control over the northwestern part of the Black Sea. But the very fact of contesting this control suggests that the enemy will continue to try both to take possession of Serpentine and to move the fleet to the coast of Crimea. It is clear that the war here is not with Ukraine, but with NATO, therefore, it is by no means possible to underestimate the enemy here, so as not to be surprised later by unpleasant surprises, as was the case with the death of the Moskva cruiser.
In general, the picture is gradually clearing up and over time, of course, we will learn more details about the largest battle on the Black Sea since the Great Patriotic War.