Ukrainian soldier killed in Iraq uprisings (04/11/04)

Ukrainian soldier killed in Iraq uprisings

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ukraine's Parliament registered a draft resolution on April 7 calling for the withdrawal of Ukraine's military contingent in Iraq, which is there as part of the United States-led international stabilization force. The initiative, organized by the Communist parliamentary faction of the Verkhovna Rada, came after one Ukrainian peacekeeper was killed and five others were injured during heated battles for control of the Iraqi city of Kut on April 6.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported on April 7 that Pvt. Ruslan Androschuk died from wounds he suffered during a mortar rocket attack as he drove with the five wounded Ukrainian peacekeepers in an armored personnel carrier. The Ukrainian soldiers had been part of a detachment battling for control of a bridge over the Tigris River in the town of Kut.

Predominantly Shiite Muslim and located northeast of Baghdad, the town was the scene of violence similar to what has occurred in Baghdad and other major Iraqi towns and cities in the last days. The rebels fighting the international coalition are mostly part of the nationwide uprising called by Iraqi Shiite leader Moktada al-Sadr. However, many Sunni Muslims, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the country also are taking part

The battle over the Tigris began in the afternoon after the Ukrainian peacekeepers took control of major government centers, including the city administration and the central television center in the morning. The death was the first of a Ukrainian soldier during combat in Iraq. Three other soldiers have died in non-combat operations since the 1,650-member Ukrainian contingent arrived in Iraq in September 2003: one in a firearm mishap, another in a vehicle accident; the third as a result of suicide.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense explained that the Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent had decided to take control of key administrative buildings in Kut to pre-empt plans by the rebel forces to do so, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

On April 7, Interfax-Ukraine reported that the U.S. authority in Iraq had ordered that the Ukrainian peacekeepers return to their base camp near the Al Kut airport after they again took mortar fire the day after the original battle with rebel forces. The retreat, in effect, ceded the city to the rebels.

Ukrainian National Deputy Ihor Alekseyev of the Communist faction, who is the main author of the bill to withdraw the Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent from Iraq, criticized President Leonid Kuchma and the pro-presidential forces in the Verkhovna Rada, as well as the Our Ukraine opposition faction for allowing Ukrainian troops to become part of the quagmire in Iraq.

"The day has come when the national deputies representing the pro-presidential majority and the Our Ukraine coalition, which supported the U.S. and President Kuchma by sending our servicemen to a faraway country to protect American rather than Ukrainian national interests, must answer to the people," argued Mr. Alekseyev.

Another lawmaker, Ihor Ostash of the Our Ukraine faction, said that before such a vote takes place the national deputies needed to hear from Minister of Defense Yevhen Marchuk. Mr. Ostash noted that the Parliament had agreed to send Ukrainian peacekeepers in a non-combat role, a situation that may no longer be realistic, especially if Iraq disintegrates further into civil war.

The U.S. Embassy issued a press release on April 6 in which it expressed its "sincere condolences" for the death of "Ukrainian peacekeeper Pvt. Androshchuk and the injury of five of his fellow soldiers."

"We appreciate the sacrifice that they have made for the cause of peace and democracy in Iraq, and reiterate our thanks to Ukraine for its role in Iraq," read the statement.

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