KYIV. May 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Ukrainian commissioner for human rights Nina Karpacheva has called on the country's parliament to make a decision to withdraw the Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent from Iraq.
"By joining the anti-Iraqi coalition, Ukraine has put its citizens under the threat of terrorist attacks from Islamic extremists, including on Ukrainian territory," says an address from Karpacheva circulated by her press service.
"In defiance of repeated statements from high-ranking officials stressing the peacekeeping nature of the Ukrainian contingent's mission in Iraq, in fact, the Ukrainians in Iraq often have to take part in hostilities together with the occupation forces," as a result of which, "according to official estimates, six Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and about 20 have sustained injuries."