Ukrainian troops depart for Iraq

KYIV - A Ukrainian Orthodox priest blessed members of the 5th Detached Motorized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces during a prayer ceremony at Boryspil Airport outside Kyiv on August 7 prior to its departure to Iraq. The 69 troops then boarded a Ukrainian aircraft for the three-hour flight to Baghdad where they are to join other troops of the international peacekeeping force within the Polish sector as part of the U.S.-led stabilization force. Another 276 Ukrainian peacekeepers left on four other flights from Kyiv and Mykolaiv the same day. Minister of Defense Yevhen Marchuk, who addressed the troops at the send-off, said that in fulfilling their mission they were helping to further Ukraine's national interests as part of a Western peacekeeping coalition and in sharing knowledge and techniques with NATO member-countries.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 10, 2003, No. 32, Vol. LXXI

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