Watch: Ukrainian forces take back Snake Island from Russian troops

Ukraine has released previously unseen footage from its mission to liberate Snake Island from Russia as the country marks the two-year anniversary of the counter-attack.

Swooping in on choppers and firing off rounds as soon as they land, the bodycam footage reveals how Kyiv’s forces captured the key Black Sea outpost on June 30, 2022.

It also appears to dispel an earlier claim by Russia that its troops retreated from the island as a goodwill gesture.

Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, described the raid as a “unique and extremely important operation” that began the “gradual displacement of the enemy from the Black Sea”.

The video begins with explosions erupting across the island from Ukrainian air strikes before its troops land on the island, shoot at targets and run through the smoke-filled ruins of buildings.

Snake Island, also known as Zmiinyi Island, is 30 miles off the coast of the Odesa Oblast and was taken by Moscow’s forces in the early days of the war because of its strategic importance.

Its capture was made famous when a Ukrainian border guard immortalised the words “Russian warship, go f--- yourself”, turning the tiny piece of rocky land into a lasting symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

Russia’s military called its withdrawal in June 2022 a “gesture of goodwill” rather than defeat, a statement Ukraine has branded a “complete fake”.