Since the start of the war in eastern Ukraine some 467 airborne troops of Ukraine’s armed forces have been killed, General Staff chief Viktor Muzhenko has said.
“Some 467 winged marines have given their lives for freedom and the independence of Ukraine. Their heroic accomplishments in Sloviansk and Krasny Lyman, at Saur-Mohyla and Karachun, in Izvaryne, Debaltseve, Avdiyivka and many other towns in Donetsk and Luhansk regions will forever remain in the hearts of Ukrainians a symbol of the steadfastness and valor enshrined in the military oath,” Muzhenko said during a ceremony commemorating the troops in Dnipropetrovsk region on August 2.
Muzhenko said that since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the country’s mobile airborne troops have been among the most battle-ready units of Ukraine’s armed forces.
Some 3,800 airborne troops have been awarded state and army medals for courage and heroism while performing their military tasks, including 20 who received the Hero of Ukraine medal, six of them posthumously.
