KIEV, February 25. /TASS/. Ukraine has lost control over its Snake Island, located in the Black Sea near the border with Romania, the state border guards service of Ukraine said on Thursday.

"According to the information that we have, the Snake Island has been seized," the border guards said.

The service said it had lost contact with Ukrainian border guards and servicemen, stationed on the island, which is part of Ukraine’s Odessa administrative region.

Snake Island, also known as Serpent Island, is located approximately 35 km off Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, near the Danube Delta. It played an important role during the International Court of Justice’s hearings regarding the territorial dispute between Ukraine and Romania.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Thursday morning that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.