Ukraine soldiers told Russian officer ‘go fuck yourself’ before they died on island

Ukrainian soldiers who died defending an island in the Black Sea from an air and sea bombardment reportedly told an officer on board a Russian navy warship to "go fuck yourself" when asked to surrender.

There were 13 border guards stationed on Snake Island, a roughly 16-hectare (40-acre) rocky island owned by Ukraine that sits about 186 miles (300km) west of Crimea, when Russian troops bombed the island on Thursday.

All 13 soldiers died after refusing to surrender, Ukrainian officials announced.

In his address after the first day of the invasion of his country, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced he would posthumously award all of the soldiers the Hero of Ukraine award.

"All border guards died heroically but did not give up," Zelenskiy said.

Audio has emerged that is purported to have captured an exchange between Ukrainian border guards on Snake Island and an approaching Russian navy vessel, in which a Russian officer told the Ukrainian forces on the island to "lay down your weapons".

"This is a military warship. This is a Russian military warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed," the Russian office was recorded as saying on a naval radio channel.