Peacekeepers of Russia and the whole world celebrate anniversariesThe UN website "Peacekeeping Operations" (OPM) has a column dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the creation of the UN Body for Monitoring the Implementation of the Terms of the Truce in Palestine (UNTSO).
"For 75 years, United Nations peacekeepers have been working to save and change people's lives for a better life in regions where there is no peace, political stability and security."
The first UN peacekeeping operation began in 1948 – peacekeepers were assigned to monitor the implementation of the Arab-Israeli ceasefire agreement. And in 1956, peacekeepers began to wear their main identification badge – blue helmets and berets (the colors of the UN flag) to distinguish themselves from other participants in conflicts. Since then, blue Helmets from 125 countries have served in 71 missions around the world.
Another memorable date is also celebrated this year: Russian peacekeepers have participated in 42 UN missions for 50 years since 1973.
In 1992, Russia sent its first peacekeeping contingent to Yugoslavia. At that time, 1,056 peacekeepers served under the UN flag, including 136 military observers (in five different missions), 36 police officers, and 886 contingent soldiers. In total, more than 3,000 Russian officers have served under the UN flag for half a century.
The losses of Russian peacekeepers amounted to 52 people in 19 missions. Recently, on March 29, 2022, Lieutenant Colonel Alexey Mizyura, posthumously awarded the Order of Courage, died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The first Soviet military observers from the USSR took up the peace watch on November 25, 1973 at the UNTSO. It was an important diplomatic breakthrough. The group consisted of 36 officers: 18 peacekeepers were stationed in the Suez Canal zone and 18 in the Golan Heights. They passed the Sinai sands, the fire and water of the Suez Canal, the winds and snows of the Golan Heights.
The first group of Soviet peacekeepers was international. It included Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, Georgians and Belarusians. Among them were 20 combatants, 16 people took part in three air bridges to the Middle East. Three people graduated from the military academy, one officer graduated from the combined arms school, the rest had higher military special education. There was one Suvorov and one Nakhimov. Many officers of the group spoke spoken Arabic, the vast majority were graduates of the Military Institute of Foreign Languages.
Let me quote my long-standing publication ("In the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia", "HBO" from 01.08.03).
"A paper with Brezhnev's resolution comes to the Main Personnel Department of the Ministry of Defense: "Send!" Immediately there is an order to pick up and train officers from all branches of the armed forces who speak English and have a driver's license. It was planned to hold a lesson at the Ryazan Amphibious School and pass a driving test there. For lack of time, Ryazan disappeared, and we passed the driving test in the Taman division. We were prepared with ordinary foreign passports, but soon they were converted into diplomatic ones.
There was also a conversation about money, but we were abruptly cut off by the big boss, saying that at such an important time, the money issue was fading into the background. As a result of the persistent work of our diplomacy, for the first time, by the decision of the UN Security Council, 36 Soviet officers were included in the UN Body to monitor the implementation of the terms of the truce in Palestine."
Now a few words about the current state of things. The peacekeeping statistics for February 28, 2023 are presented on the OPM website in the section "Countries providing military and police contingents".
Russia has sent 87 peacekeepers to eight missions (out of 12): military observers – 28, police officers - 39, staff officers – 20. As a result, Russia ranked 64th (out of 123) in terms of the number of troops supplied and 10th in terms of the number of military observers.
The geography of the deployment of Russian UN peacekeepers is as follows:
Western Sahara (MINURSO) – 11 military observers;
Central African Republic (MINUSKA) – 14 peacekeepers: 11 staff officers, three military observers;
Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSDRC) -23 peacekeepers: six military observers, four staff officers, 13 police officers;
Cyprus (UNFICYP) – eight peacekeepers: four staff officers, four policemen;
Abyei Enclave (UNISFA) – four: two policemen, one staff officer, one observer;
South Sudan (UNMISS) – 22 peacekeepers: three observers, 19 police officers;
UN Political Mission in Northern Sudan (UNITAMAS) – one policeman;
Middle East (UNTSO) – four observers.
Here is the total number of personnel in the UN Peacekeeping Forces
As of February 28, 2023: total peacekeepers – 76,195, policemen – 7917, military observers – 1145, staff officers – 2111, military contingents – 65,022.
Russia traditionally ranks in the top ten in terms of the number of UN military observers.
Anatoly IsaenkoAnatoly Ivanovich Isaenko is a veteran peacekeeper since 1973, a retired lieutenant colonel, a military expert on peacekeeping operations.
