Our correspondent and peacekeepers greeted the New Year together

The arrival of the Heroi Shypky ferry in Sierra Leone signaled that the Ukrainian peacekeeping force had been fully deployed in that West African state. The ferry, which delivered 60 APCs, 192 trucks, and the accompanying 27 servicemen of the Fourth Detached Salvage Repair Battalion, moored in the port of Freetown on December 31 last at 4 p.m. Kyiv time. The bulk of the peacekeeping contingent was brought to the African continent on December 21-30 by two An-124 and three Tu-154 aircraft. This means, the Ministry of Defense press service announced, that 528 Ukrainian servicemen rang in the New Year in Sierra Leone in front of a tree they brought specially from Mykolayiv on this occasion.

Incidentally, Sierra Leone was visited the other day by a task force of Defense Ministry and Southern Operational Command generals and officers. Serhiy DANYLENKO, senior officer at the Southern Operational Command press center, granted The Day an interview with Major General Yuri Kostin, Deputy Commanding Officer in charge of armaments, Southern OC, containing the assessment of conditions in which the contingent will be carrying out its peacekeeping mission.

“What impressions did you gain from this trip?”

“The first unexpected thing for our servicemen was the high humidity. We got used to it two days later and felt quite good by the end of the week we stayed.

“As to the place where our battalion is stationed, it was a good choice: it is not so exposed to winds and is a long way from swamps, which in Africa are full of harmful insects and reptiles.”

“How well are our peacekeepers provided for?”

“As of today, our servicemen have everything they need to live in the climatic conditions. Before the battalion was sent to Africa, we purchased all the needed air conditioners, without which life here is impossible. We had to make some corrections on the spot. It was originally planned to use wooden planks as floors in the residential quarters, but these are normally not used in the tropics due to the long rainy season, when Ukraine’s annual rate of precipitation is being exceeded the annual norm six fold for five or six months. Wood rots and nurtures a lot of infectious insects. This is why it was decided to lay concrete floors. As to food supplies, our peacekeepers will for the first thirty days eat rations they brought from Ukraine. Later they will have an opportunity to choose a menu from a suggested list. Incidentally, all the foodstuffs meet UN standards and are being delivered from Europe fresh (vegetables, fruits, etc.). Potable water is to be supplied by a UN water-treatment plant situated where the peacekeeping force is stationed.”

“How were the peacekeeping candidates selected?”

“To accomplish the peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone, we chose contract servicemen from the units and formations of the Southern Operational Command, as well as representatives of Odesa, Mykolayiv, Dnipropetrovsk oblasts, and the Crimea. The main condition the candidates were to meet was sound health and, of course, and proficiency in their specialties. The bulk of the battalion’s strength was called up from the reserves. At the moment, the average age of our peacekeepers is 25 years.”

“Do you think the equipment and the personnel will stand up to these conditions?”

“The equipment is sure to stand up, and I hope the people will not give in. Even today, our battalion is creating normal living conditions. Naturally, missing the fatherland and relatives makes itself felt. Besides, our boys have had a hard year preparing to carry out the peacekeeping mission. Yet, they are full of optimism and hope for the best.”

“I wonder if our battalion is the only one entrusted with maintaining combat equipment and vehicles along with teaching how to drive the vehicles.”

“Yes, it really is. In addition, our peacekeeping unit is the only one to be supplied with such a quantity of equipment. This is, if you like, a UN experiment. It is far from easy to make it in the conditions of Africa, first of all, due to the absence of good roads.”