Friends!

Friends! Today is the Day of Ukrainian Peacekeepers.

In Ukraine, it began to be celebrated in 2013.

It was on July 15, 1992 when the Ukrainian military joined the mission to maintain peace and security in Bosnia. The battalion was formed in record time, in just three weeks. The commander of the same 240th separate special battalion was Colonel Vladimir Sidorenko, who later became a co-author of the draft resolution on the celebration of this day.

July 15, 1992, two aircraft with an advanced group of 42 military on board flew from Dnepropetrovsk airfield in the direction of Bosnia. After landing in Sarajevo, Ukrainian peacekeepers immediately found themselves in the epicenter of military operations. The city and the airfield were shelled by artillery and snipers. Almost immediately 7 military men were seriously injured. Senior Lieutenant Sergei Topiha died of wounds in the hospital. But the Ukrainian military continued to carry out the peacekeeping mission, in just four months they conducted more than 800 convoys with humanitarian cargo.

Since then, almost 40,000 Ukrainian servicemen have participated in various international peacekeeping operations throughout the world - in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Angola, Macedonia, Guatemala, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Croatia, Kuwait, Sierra Leone, Transnistria, Iraq, Lebanon, Ethiopia , Eritrea, Georgia, Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other countries.

During this time, 50 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed.

These Ukrainian heroes who fought for peace in "hot spots" deserve our eternal honor and respect. Glorious heroes-peacekeepers should forever remain in the memory of the Ukrainians. I congratulate you with this holiday, wish you health and enthusiasm. Eternal memory of those who died in the struggle for peace.