The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's press service told RIA Novosti that a company of the 72nd independent mechanized infantry battalion left the unit's Zulu base on Saturday and headed for the Delta base near El-Kut, the capital of the Vasit province. On Friday, a unit of the Iraqi armed forces took over the security functions in the area from the departing Ukrainian peacekeepers.
"According to the plan, the first 150 Ukrainian peacekeepers are to be back home quite soon," the press service said.
In the meantime, other units of the 72nd independent mechanized infantry battalion deployed in the Zulu military base continue to fulfill their peacekeeping duties.
The withdrawal of Ukrainian peacekeepers is planned to start on March 15, with the whole contingent to be brought back home by late October. The 1,600-strong Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent, deployed in Iraq's Vasit province since September 2003, has been assigned the task of ensuring law and order in the area as well as guarding administrative buildings and strategic facilities.
On March 1, Ukraine's Defense and National Security Council made a decision on withdrawing the Ukrainian military personnel from Iraq.
