On February 15, Ukraine celebrates the Day of Honoring Participants in Combat Actions on the Territory of Other States, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the country dated February 11, 2004. This day is timed to coincide with the anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
The Afghan war lasted from 1979 to 1989 and became for the USSR the most brutal and bloody battlefield deployed after the Great Patriotic War. More than 2,500 Ukrainians have not returned from Afghanistan, and 72 people are considered missing or captured. More than 8 thousand Ukrainians were injured, 4,687 of them returned to their parents' homes with disabilities.
All those who took part in other wars are also honored in Ukraine — military personnel who performed international duty in Chile, Spain, Egypt, Vietnam, Ethiopia, on the island of Cuba and in many other «hot spots of the » world.
According to tradition, on this day a number of commemorative events and solemn ceremonies are held — laying flowers at memorial signs, holding rallies, meetings with combatants, memorial services are held in churches and monasteries for dead and deceased combatants on the territory of other states.