Fighters captured Ukrainians from UN Mission in Somalia

12 January, 2024 Illustrative photo of the Mi-8 UN helicopter. Photo from open sources Anti-government forces in Somalia captured four Ukrainians, crew members of the helicopter that belongs to the United Nations Mission in Somalia.

This was announced by Oleh Nikolenko, speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, on his Facebook page. It is reported that the helicopter has crashed. In addition to Ukrainians, there were five foreign citizens on board.

The Embassy of Ukraine in Kenya and the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN in New York have already received urgent instructions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to take the necessary measures. "We find out all the details of the accident and capture, the condition of Ukrainians, and establish communication with the company-owner of the helicopter in order to coordinate actions. We keep this situation under special control together with other involved state agencies," Nikolenko said.

Illustrative photo of the Mi-8 UN helicopter.

Photo from open sources

On January 10, the BBC reported on the capture of a UN helicopter by militants of the Islamist group Al-Shabab. The helicopter landed in a militant-controlled part of Somalia. "It had medical materials on a board and was supposed to transport wounded soldiers from the Galgudud region," Somali Armed Forces spokesman Hassan Ali commented in his interview with Reuters.

The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, also stated that four Ukrainian sailors are in captivity with the Houthis. "The situation in the Red Sea is also very important for us because it impacts the safety of Ukrainian citizens. Currently four of our sailors are held captive by the Houthis," the president said.

Militants of the Al-Shabaab group.

Photo credits: BBC

He added that Ukraine will work on the return of its citizens from captivity.

In October, Militarnyi reported that the United Kingdom was deploying armed forces in Kosovo as part of the NATO peacekeeping mission launched, due to rising tensions in the northern part of the country.

The deployment of British forces began after an attack on the local police in northern Kosovo, on September 24, and increased tensions in the region.