Two Ukrainian peacekeepers killed in fighting in Iraq (05/02/04)

Two Ukrainian peacekeepers killed in fighting in Iraq

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Two Ukrainian peacekeepers serving in Iraq died in the town of Az-Zubadia, 60 kilometers west of Kut on April 28 after encountering rebel forces.

The death of the two soldiers brings to three the total number of Ukrainian servicemen who have died as a result of direct engagement with the enemy, sacrificing their lives after volunteering for duty in war-torn Iraq as part of the Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent tied to the U.S.-led stabilization force. The first Ukrainian soldier was killed on April 6 in Kut, where the Ukrainian peacekeepers are based, during a gun battle over the Tigris River.

Three other Ukrainian soldiers have died in Iraq: two as a result of vehicle mishaps and a third due to suicide.

Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma expressed condolences to friends and family of the deceased soldiers, identified by the Ministry of Defense as Kostiantyn Mykhaliev and Yaroslav Zlochevskyi.

The two soldiers were killed after their patrol unit was ambushed in what the Ministry of Defense described as a "bandit attack." The men were driving at the rear of a column of three armored personnel carriers when rebels with hand-held, anti-tank rockets and high-caliber artillery attacked their vehicle from both sides of the road. Private Mykhaliev died immediately, while Private Zlochevskyi was taken to a military hospital in Baghdad where he succumbed to his injuries. Also injured in the battle was Private Volodymyr Behutov, whose condition is not considered critical.

President Kuchma told reporters during his monthly press conference on April 28 that it was time to consider what needs to be done to better guarantee the safety of Ukrainian peacekeepers in Iraq.

"We need advice from the National Security and Defense Council on what we can do," explained a somber President Kuchma.

The president underscored that Ukrainian troops had been deployed in Iraq only after authorization from the United Nations and that they were neither an occupying force nor a combat force. Mr. Kuchma reiterated his belief that the stabilization and peacekeeping operations in Iraq should come under the authority of the United Nations.

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