Moscow claims that Kiev's sea and air attack on the island off the coast of Odessa caused its forces major losses.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Monday that US and UK advisers were involved in planning the operation after an attempt by Ukrainian forces to seize the Black Sea's Snake Island by air and sea over the weekend.
Over the past two days, the Kiev regime has made several desperate attempts to land by air and sea on Snake Island, which is important for ensuring control of the northwestern part of the Black Sea, said Major General Igor Konashenkov, Russian military spokesman.
The plan to take the island was ordered personally by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday, and plans to take the island were made by the general staff in Kiev with direct participation of advisers from the US and the UK, Konashenkov said.
Russian forces stationed on the island thwarted the Ukrainian attack and inflicted great losses on the enemy, according to Konashenkov. He said Ukraine lost four aircraft three Su 24 ground attack jets and one Su 27 fighter, as well as four helicopters, including a Mi 24 and three Mi 8 s loaded with troops.
Over the two days of fighting, 29 Ukrainian drones were shot down, including eight Bayraktar TB-2 attack UAVs. Konashenkov noted that four of the Turkish-made drones were eliminated during the day on Monday.
Ukraine's losses included three Centaur-class assault boats, also known as Project 58181, sunk during an attempted night landing on May 8, Konashenkov said. More than 50 Ukrainian troops perished in the attempt to attack the island, leaving 24 bodies on the shore, the Russian military spokesman said.
On Sunday, Ukraine reported that its Bayraktar drones destroyed one Tor air defense system on the island, as well as three Russian boats one Serna class and two Raptor class vessels. Kiev shared a video purportedly showing two of its Su 27 jets bombing the island.
Snake Island is located about 48 km off the southern coast of Ukraine and was taken over by the Russian Navy in the first week of military operations. The Ukrainian government and media claimed that 13 brave defenders died after telling the Russian ship demanding their surrender to go f yourself. They were decorated as heroes of Ukraine, only to turn up alive within days, as the Russian Navy revealed that a total of 82 border guards stationed on the island surrendered without a fight.
Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February after Ukraine failed to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists that the Russian offensive was unprovoked and has denied it plans to retake the two republics by force.