SNAKE ISLAND – BLACK SEA STRATEGIC AREA

Abstract

In this article, we will analyze the strategic importance of the Snake Island for the entire Black Sea area and even the European and NATO countries, which are non-riparian states. Utilizing historical analysis as a research method, we will objectively state the importance of the island throughout history while also pointing out some contemporary elements. In addition, we will focus on the political, military, and economic factors that motivated Russian forces' decision to launch an attack on the first day that hostilities broke out between Ukraine and Russia. For this reason, after Ukraine had already lost both control of the Crimean Peninsula and free access to the Azov Sea, the seizure of Snake Island by Russian forces was most likely planned well in advance, as a tactical operation with strategic implications, for the purpose of cutting off Ukraine’s maritime routes and denying access to all of its sea lines of communication. Another factor of great importance is the island's location, which presents the possibility of basing military assets on the island in order to conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations and even pose a threat on the eastern frontier of NATO with the probable deployment of mobile multi-layered missile systems