KYIV. Aug 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Peacekeepers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' 5th detached mechanized brigade and servicemen of the 3rd U.S. Marine Battalion will perform the first joint patrolling of facilities in the Iraqi town of El Kut on Wednesday, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's press service told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"The first joint patrolling of facilities in El Kut will involve 441 Ukrainian servicemen," a press service official said.
Also on Wednesday, unit commanders of the 51st Ukrainian detached mechanized battalion will leave for the Iranian-Iraqi border to take part in three-day joint exercises with U.S. marines. They will practice patrolling in the area of responsibility.
According to the source, a group of officers of the 5th brigade administration will attend two-day instruction classes at the headquarters of Multinational Division South-Center and a conference involving El Kut administration officials this week.
A total of 1,656 Ukrainian servicemen and 348 pieces of hardware have arrived in Iraq. Among them are 1,614 servicemen of the 5th detached mechanized brigade, 11 officers of the multinational HQ of the coalition forces in Baghdad, 26 officers with the HQ of the South-Center Multinational Division in Babylon (Polish AoR), and five officers of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's operations team.
According to the press service, the security system of the brigade's permanent post consists of two zones: the outer zone includes the airfield and the residential area; it is guarded by 17 stationary posts and car-mounted patrols of the 3rd U.S. Marine Battalion; Ukrainians guard the inner zone by 10 two-man patrols; in addition, four detachments of the day are tailored for contingency missions.