So you're telling me that Ukraine would garrison 80 people on the island to defend it against Romania in the 2000s but because the Garrison dropped to ~30 in 2012 during peacetime
after they won the dispute over the Island, but
before Donbass '14 that they wouldn't restore the Island's garrison back to full strength considering the fact it's the only piece of land between Crimea and Odessa?
In fact here's a Zelensky visited the Island just 6 months ago to review military drills testing the Island's defenses.
Під час робочої поїздки до Миколаївської та Одеської областей Президент України Володимир Зеленський відвідав острів Зміїний у Чорному м
lozova-rda.kh.gov.ua
Also here's an article from August talking about them installing underwater NATO listening posts around the Island