Vitalijus Hyrenka

Vitalijus Hyrenka is known as the last defender of Snake Island, a site of significant resistance during the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He gained international recognition for his heroic stand when Ukrainian border guards defiantly refused to surrender to the Russian warship Moskva. Recently, he was released from Russian captivity, where he had spent over three years, as part of a prisoner exchange involving wounded and seriously ill defenders of Ukraine.