The Verkhovna Rada has supported a proposal of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to send up to 130 Ukrainian peacekeepers and three Mi-24 helicopters from Liberia to Ivory Coast.
A total of 266 out of the 392 MPs registered in the session hall voted for the approval of the president’s decision on Thursday.
An explanatory note says that since the level of internal and external military threat to Liberia is dropping, the UN plans to withdraw about 4,200 servicemen of the 7,952-strong peacekeeping mission in Liberia from October 2012 until July 2015.
Three Mi-24 helicopters from the 56th separate helicopter detachment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be withdrawn.
At the same time, eight Mi-8 military transport helicopters will remain a part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia.
As reported, the 56th separate helicopter detachment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which consists of 275 servicemen, has been performing peacekeeping tasks as part of the United Nations’ mission in Liberia since 2003. The Ukrainian detachment also has three Mi-24 and eight Mi-8 helicopters.
A total of 40 servicemen have already been relocated to the UN mission in Ivory Coast.
