Today is the Day of Ukrainian Peacekeepers: creation of the first battalion, most successful missions, losses
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine, as an independent state, first joined the UN peacekeeping contingents in 1992 in Yugoslavia, where a bloody civil war was taking place.
Today, July 15, Ukraine honors the military who participated in various peacekeeping missions under the auspices of the United Nations. The event was initiated by a resolution of the Verkhovna Rada in 2013, UNN reports.
Ukraine, as an independent state, first joined the UN peacekeeping contingents in 1992 in the former Yugoslavia, where a bloody civil war was taking place.
The 240th Separate Special Battalion was formed in just three weeks to participate in the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR), and included. 67 officers and warrant officers, 345 NCOs and soldiers, and 95 pieces of equipment.
Colonel Volodymyr Sydorenko became the battalion commander.
The peacekeepers recruited only volunteers. They were offered a salary of approximately $500 per month for privates and $800-850 for officers.
It was the 240th separate special battalion that suffered the first casualties - Senior Lieutenant Serhiy Topykha died in a hospital after a mortar attack. In total, 15 Ukrainian peacekeepers were killed in this mission.
Between 1992 and 2022, 44,000 Ukrainian peacekeepers took part in 36 missions in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Fifty-seven people were killed.
Most Ukrainian soldiers were killed during the peacekeeping mission in Iraq in 2005-2008 - 18 people.
It was thanks to Ukrainian peacekeepers that the Bosnian Serbs did not manage to repeat the bloody massacre in Srebrenica in July 1995 in the neighboring Muslim enclave of Zepa.
Despite attempted assaults and constant mortar attacks, Ukrainian peacekeepers did not leave the civilian population to their fate.
Negotiations began, which ended with the evacuation of Muslim civilians from Zhepa.
At the time of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukrainians participated in five peacekeeping missions: 40 people in Kosovo, 56 in Côte d'Ivoire, 13 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 20 in Mali, and 10 military observers in Moldova.
On March 7, 2022, Zelenskyy signed a decree recalling all Ukrainian peacekeepers and engaging them in countering Russian aggression.
