Bile () is the only settlement on Snake Island, in

Izmail Raion Izmail Raion (; ; ) is a raion (administrative division) in Odesa Oblast in southwestern Ukraine. Its administrative center is the town of Izmail. It is in the historical region of Budjak in southern Bessarabia. Population: On 18 July 2020, as ...

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast (), also referred to as Odeshchyna (Одещина), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administrative centre is the city of Ode ...

, southern

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It belongs to the Vylkove urban hromada, one of the

hromada In Ukraine, a hromada () is the main type of municipality and the third level Administrative divisions of Ukraine, local self-government in Ukraine. The current hromadas were established by the Cabinet of ministers of Ukraine, Government of Uk ...

s (municipalities) of Ukraine.

History

Bile was founded in 2007 on Snake Island to serve

in a then ongoing dispute with

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

regarding the territorial waters surrounding the island. This was criticized by Romania, which tried to prove that the village in Snake Island could not constitute a permanent settlement. The dispute ended in 2009 following mediation by the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

(ICJ) which ruled that Romania would get 80% of the disputed maritime area. This was accepted by both sides. Until 18 July 2020, Bile belonged to Kiliia Raion. This administrative unit was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is c ...

s of Odesa Oblast to seven. The area of Kiliia Raion was merged into Izmail Raion. 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 The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

and a sign dedicated to

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

, a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

soldier and

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

saint.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

On 24 February 2022, during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Snake Island was attacked and virtually all the infrastructure of the village was destroyed. Furthermore, the thirteen Ukrainian border guards defending the island were captured as

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

by the Russian forces. On 30 June of the same year, Russian forces withdrew from Snake Island following a heavy Ukrainian bombardment campaign.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2007 establishments in Ukraine Romania–Ukraine relations Snake Island (Ukraine) Rural settlements in Izmail Raion Populated places in Vylkove urban hromada