Bile, Odessa Oblast

Bile (Ukrainian: Біле, romanized: Bile) is the only village in Snake Island,[1] in the Vylkove hromada, part of the Izmail Raion in the Odessa Oblast, in Ukraine.[2]

For other uses, see Bile (disambiguation).

Bile
Біле
Bile
Location in Ukraine
Bile
Bile (Ukraine)
Coordinates: 45°15′18″N 30°12′15″E
Country Ukraine
Oblast Odessa Oblast
RaionIzmail Raion
HromadaVylkove
Village founded2007
Control Russia
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
68315

Village

Bile was founded in 2007 in Snake Island to serve Ukraine in a then ongoing dispute between this country and Romania regarding the territorial waters surrounding the island.[1] This was criticized by Romania, which tried to prove that the village in Snake Island could not constitute a permanent settlement.[3] The dispute ended in 2009 following mediation by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which ruled that Romania would get 80% of the disputed maritime area. This was accepted by both sides.[4]

The village of Bile only consists of a few houses of the Ukrainian soldiers stationed there, as well as a monument to 25 Russian sailors who died in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War and a sign dedicated to Saint George, a Roman soldier and Christian saint.[1]

On 24 February 2022, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Snake Island was attacked and virtually all the infrastructure on the village was destroyed.[1] Furthermore, the thirteen Ukrainian border guards defending the island were captured as prisoners of war by the Russian forces.[5]

References
  1. Veselova, Viktoriya (25 January 2022). "Острів, де планували деокупацію Криму: як виглядав Зміїний до війни з Росією". Radio Free Europe Ukraïna (in Ukrainian).
  2. Bratyuk, Yuriy (24 February 2022). "Українські війська відбили атаку на острів Зміїний, – Генштаб ЗСУ". Zaxid.net (in Ukrainian).
  3. "România a demonstrat și cu imagini din satelit că Insula Șerpilor nu face parte din coasta Ucrainei". România liberă (in Romanian). 3 September 2008.
  4. Runner, Philippa (3 February 2009). "EU's Black Sea border set in stone". EUobserver.
  5. "Ukrainian Navy confirms Snake Island soldiers are alive, POWs". The Jerusalem Post. 28 February 2022.
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