July 15 is celebrated as the Day of Ukrainian Peacekeepers – an official holiday for participants of peacekeeping organizations. This holiday was established by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on May 21, 2013, taking into account the contribution and significance of the national peacekeeping contingent of Ukraine in strengthening peace and harmony in areas of military conflicts.
Our state joined international peacekeeping and security operations in 1992 after the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved the Resolution "On the Participation of the Battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in Conflict Zones on the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia."
The very next day, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine signed an order to form a peacekeeping unit. Thus, the 240th battalion was formed in a record short time – in three weeks.
On July 15, 1992, two planes with the advance group of the battalion on board took off from the Dnipropetrovsk airfield towards Bosnia. The advance group consisted of 42 servicemen. After landing in Sarajevo, Ukrainian peacekeepers immediately found themselves in the epicenter of hostilities. The city and the airfield were shelled by artillery and snipers. At the very beginning of the international peacekeeping mission, as a result of a mortar shelling of the airfield and our artillery radar complex, seven servicemen were seriously injured. Unfortunately, one of the participants in that operation, Senior Lieutenant Serhiy Topikha, died from his injuries in the hospital. Despite the extremely difficult conditions, our peacekeepers effectively carried out the assigned tasks. In just four months, they conducted over 800 convoys with humanitarian cargo!
During their participation in international peacekeeping operations, Ukrainian military personnel gained significant experience and skills. The global community recognizes Ukraine as a reliable military partner.
Before the full-scale military invasion of Russia into the territory of Ukraine, Ukrainian military personnel participated in 8 UN peacekeeping operations in 6 countries around the world.
In connection with the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, by the Decree of the President of Ukraine dated March 7, 2022, No. 114/2022, the national contingent and national personnel who participated in international peacekeeping and security operations were recalled to Ukraine to participate in the defense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state.
When the first Ukrainian peacekeeping mission set off for the Balkans in the summer of 1992, no one imagined that years later bloodshed would come to Ukrainian soil. And our soldiers and officers, setting off thousands of kilometers away from their homeland, had no idea that the experience gained there would have to be applied in the struggle against Russian occupiers...