The Russian army took Snake Island, an uninhabited Ukrainian islet located in the Black Sea just 45 kilometers from the Romanian city of Sulina, in the early hours of Friday, local media reported today.
The 13 Ukrainian border guards defending the islet refused to surrender and They died under Russian fire.
The seizure of the islet, confirmed by the Ukrainian authorities, has caused concern in Romania, which sees how the most pessimistic forecasts about the advance of Russian troops to the vicinity of its territory are being fulfilled.
“The military campaign in Ukraine is a show of force by (Vladimir) Putin, more for the West than for Russian public opinion or for the Ukrainians,” Romanian ex-Soviet space expert Armand Gosu told Efe.
The analyst believes that Putin will not stop at the gates of NATO if he emerges victorious from the war against Ukraine.
“I am afraid that Putin’s next target may be a NATO country, one of the Baltic countries or Romania,” said Gosu, who considers the thousands of NATO soldiers deployed in these countries insufficient to deter Russia.
Located on the shores of the Black Sea, where Russia has multiplied its military presence after the 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula, Romania has more than 650 kilometers of land, river and sea border with Ukraine.
Energy experts have warned that the current conflict situation in the Black Sea makes it virtually impossible for Romania attracts investors to extract the huge amounts of gas that have been found in its territorial waters.
These reserves could help Europe reduce its energy dependence on Russia, analysts say. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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