Ukrainian soldier Roman Hrybov returns home from Russian captivity
new Delhi:
A Ukrainian soldier who told a Russian warship to “let himself go” before being captured by an invading force has returned home, Ukraine’s defense ministry tweeted.
In the early days of the Russian offensive in late February, the soldier and his squad were defending a small island in the Black Sea called Snake Island.
When a Russian warship challenged him to surrender, an audio clip of the incident that surfaced on social media showed the soldier bluntly replying, “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.”
It was then reported that a small squad of Ukrainian soldiers guarding Snake Island had been killed. Later, Russian media reported that he had been taken prisoner.
“Roman Hrybov, author of the famous ‘Russian battleship, go f*** yourself’ phrase, returns from Russian captivity to his native Cherkasy region. Glory to the Hero,” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said in a tweet today.
Roman Hrybov, the author of the famous phrase “Russian battleship, go f*** yourself”, returned from Russian captivity to his native Cherkasy region. Glory to the hero! #glory to Ukrainepic.twitter.com/uruPgkBLGv
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) 29 March 2022
A photo accompanying the tweet showed Roman Hrybov receiving a medal.
A month after Russia launched its offensive, it said it would “radically” reduce its military activity around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the northern city of Chernigov following “meaningful” progress in peace talks held in Istanbul.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the talks had made “the most significant progress” since the war broke out.