The African country of Liberia, although far away from Ukraine, has finally become close to Ukrainians — not only to the one hundred and sixty one helicopter pilots, who arrived there in mid-January on board the first two cargo planes, but also to their kith and kin who stay back in their homeland and look forward to fresh news from the newly-formed mission. Colonel Ihor Shendryhin, commander of the 56th Detached Helicopter Squadron of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, now part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia, told our newspaper about the first days of their service.
“You headed the first 24-man group that left for Liberia on January 12 from Hostomel Airfield. What kind of a reception did Africa give you?”
“A real, if not excessively, warm one. A forty-degree [Celsius] heat plus rather high humidity produces a shocking effect after Kyiv’s subzero temperature. In spite of such conditions, we had to quickly unload the Ruslan [cargo plane] and pitch several tents to spend the night in. Then, for five days, we sat up the camp and unloaded cargoes from he ferry. It took us a week to do this due to the absence of special handling equipment. When the new party arrived, things went faster.”
“You are an experienced peacekeeper. Have you had this kind of mission before?”
“Oh yes, this is not my first mission. I’ve been to Kosovo and Sierra Leone before. But in those cases, there were already prepared and well-organized townships. Now we, so to speak, are starting from scratch, from nothing but asphalt and concrete. There are many urgent problems to solve, first of all, the supply of potable and utility water (at present, potable water is delivered from Monrovia, 75 kilometers from Robertsville, the campsite, while utility water is pumped out of a river 15 kilometers away —Author). Besides, we have checked and carried out routine maintenance of the equipment, offered basic training to Mi-24 crews, test-flown the new helicopters, set up a camp, and demarcated the technical, utility, and residential areas in it. We have already pitched 54 tents, organized a guardhouse, a duty officer’s post, a communications center, a crew training and briefing classroom. Yet, these achievements do not yet mean progress. The bulk of the work is still to be done.”
“You have to constantly address organizational problems, meet representatives of the local authorities and the UN mission. What do you think is the attitude to the Ukrainians?”
“Judging by their attitude, we were looked upon as welcome guests. It is perhaps for this reason that they are ready to help us solve the problems of township organization. At the same time, there is a purely objective problem. The mission will begin to receive direct funding only when a proper memorandum is signed, which will take a certain period of time. We have coordinated with the mission leadership a long-term capital construction plan for our camp. This construction is supposed to take about three months.”
“What short-term tasks is the mission leadership assigning to you?”
“The mission needs our Mi-24 choppers as, above all, a deterrent. The main task is area fly-over and reconnaissance, as well as aerial patrolling. In late January we have organized two-pair helicopter sorties. At the same time, we continue to improve and prepare the camp for the next batch of peacekeepers.
“Speaking to Carl Markson, head of the UN mission’s aviation center, we discussed all that concerns the deployment of Ukrainian helicopters. In his turn, the center chief promised full cooperation in solving daily problems and speeding up construction.
