Last modified: 2023-03-11 by martin karner
Keywords: ukraine | invasion |
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images by Zachary Harden, 22 February 2023
(Notice: the following content may contain language deemed offensive
and it is only mentioned in written form for vexillological reference
purpose only.)
On February 24, 2022, the first day of the Russian invasion of
Ukraine, the Russian Navy attacked Snake Island, a Ukrainian island in
the Black Sea, and captured it along with its entire garrison,
beginning a military occupation of the island. The attack was widely
publicized when an audio clip of Russian cruiser Moskva hailing the
island's garrison over the radio demanding their surrender and being
told "Russian warship, go fuck yourself!" (Russian: Русский военный
корабль, иди на хуй!, tr. Russky voyenny korabl, idi na khuy,
Ukrainian: рускій Ваєнний карабль нахуй!, romanized: russkij voennyj
korabl idi na hj!) in response went viral, along with initial
inaccurate reports of the garrison's deaths. The expression is attributed to Roman Valentinovych Hrybov
(It is important to notice that due to online censorship, the written
form of the phrase often varies from the original "иди нахуй" to
"(иди) на хуй").
Later on, it emerged that a civilian search
and rescue ship trying to evacuate the soldiers was also captured along with the
garrison. The ship, its crew, and at least one soldier were
subsequently freed in prisoner exchanges.
Following the island's capture, Ukraine launched a campaign against
Russian forces on and around the island, deploying anti-ship missiles
against Russian naval forces and air, artillery, and missile strikes
against Russian positions on the island itself. Russia subsequently
withdrew from the island on 30 June 2022, ending the 126-day military
occupation of the island. Russian bombing against the island continued
thereafter, reportedly causing casualties on the Ukrainian military;
this has been denied by Ukraine. The cruiser Moskva itself was sunk on April 14, 2022.
The flag (pictures: Ukrainian, Russian)
is a horizontal blue background featuring what seems to be
three upward silhouettes with the middle having the shape of a bullet
tip but also resembling the Trident in a gesture which
very much represents extending the middle finger as an offensive hand
gesture. Above, the inscription "РУССКИЙ ВОЕННЫЙ КОРАБЛЬ" and below it
reads "НАХУЙ". (Sources: phrase,
Snake Island,
Moskva)
Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
There are a lot of variants of this flag in terms of style; 11 designs just from this website.
Zachary Harden, 22 February 2023
Flag
image located by Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
Logo
.jpg)
image located by Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
The public union "Creative Patriotic
Association ‘Music Battalion’", MusBat (Ukrainian: Творче патріотичне об єднання
"Музичний Батальйон", МузБат)
was established in 2014. As they describe themselves, "(it) is an association of Ukrainian
professional musicians and poets, which since 2014 has been supporting
the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and
volunteer battalions in
the zone of the so-called ‘Anti-terrorist operation in the East of Ukraine’
with their songs and fiery words." MusBat is engaged in the
popularization of modern Ukrainian song and Ukrainian culture among
young people in such complex multicultural regions as the Danube
region (southwest Odessa region), Transcarpathia and Donbass
(source: https://muzbat.org). They are complex for the strong
influence exerted upon those local communities by Russian settlers.
Notice: The ато
(антитерористичної операції, Anti-terrorist operation),
as it is officially
called in Ukraine, is the Russian undeclared invasion of Ukraine,
which lasted from 2014–2018, starting with the annexation of Crimea and the
destabilization process in the East (War in Donbass and establishment
of pro-Russian separatist republics, see here and
here) and South (Pro Russian demonstrations in Odessa).
The flag is a blue horizontal flag with the logo in the middle, the
logo being the Trident featuring a G
musical note symbol, all in yellow letters. The logo includes the
initials МУЗ
БАТ
in capitals inside. The flag also has the name of
the organization below the logo, also in yellow capital letters.
Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
