Ukrainian troops on Zmiinyi Island who reportedly told Russian warship 'go fuck yourself' died as heroes, Zelensky says

• Border guards who died defending a Black Sea island are being honored by Ukraine's president.
• They refused to surrender to a Russian ship, telling it "go fuck yourself," per an audio recording.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said he'd issue posthumous honors to security forces who were killed after refusing to surrender to a Russian war ship in the Black Sea.

"On our Zmiinyi Island, defending it to the last, all the border guards died heroically," Zelensky said. "But [they] did not give up."

According to audio posted by the Ukrainian outlet Pravda and Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to Ukraine's interior minister, and replayed on CNN, a Russian warship approached the island and asked the border guards to surrender.

The men refused, per that audio, responding: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

Here is a translation of the climax of the exchange, in Russian, which begins at the 22-second mark:

"I repeat, this is a Russian warship. I suggest you put down your weapons and surrender, or else you will be hit. Do you copy?"

(The voices then inadubily discuss how to respond)

"Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

Alec Luhn, a former Russia correspondent for The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, also posted video purporting to be from the island, in which soldiers watch the ship broadcast the same threat in the distance.

At least 137 Ukrainian soldiers were killed on the first day of fighting, according to Zelensky, and another 316 wounded.

Zelensky said the border guards who'd been killed would be awarded the title "Hero of Ukraine."

"May the memory of those who gave their lives for Ukraine live forever," he said.

Snake Island, as it's known in English, is located about 30 miles off Ukraine's coast. Its total land area is less than one-tenth of a square mile.

"This island, like the rest of our territory, is Ukrainian land, and we will defend it with all our might," Zelensky said in an August 2021 interview.