Evacuation at the Cost of Lives. UNMISS personnel killed and injured during attack on UN helicopter in Nasir, South Sudan
On March 14, at 14:00 local time, a memorial service will be held in the city of Juba at the UNMISS Tompeng camp in honor of the heroically killed flight attendant of the Ukrainian Helicopters, Sergii Prykhodko.
According to the statement of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) of 7 March 2025, the United Nations helicopter, piloted by Ukrainian Helicopters, was shot down during the evacuation mission in Nasir, Upper Nile State, killing one crew member and seriously injuring two others. In addition, several members of the South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF), including General Daka, were killed during an attempt by UNMISS to evacuate people from the area.
The Ukrainian Helicopters aircraft landed at a designated point for the peacekeeping mission to evacuate people. In the abrupt shooting, the Ukrainian Helicopters flight attendant and rescuer Sergii Prykhodko died while shielding the UNMISS chief high-ranking negotiator, who was there to stabilize the situation in South Sudan.
Crew commander Serhiy Muzyka, with a gunshot wound to the hand, managed to lift the damaged helicopter into the air, evacuate 8 people and pull them out of the fire. Also wounded, co-pilot Dmytro Teplykh assisted the pilot. The helicopter got over 20 gunshot holes and suffered significant damage. However, the highly qualified crew, even though wounded, were able to complete the rescue operation and land the helicopter in a designated safe location. The Ukrainian Helicopters is ongoingly training their highly professional pilots to perform 24/7 search and rescue operations and is proud of their valor.
Serhiy Muzyka has already obtained extensive experience in search and rescue operations when evacuating victims of a plane crash in Somalia in 2015.
"The attack on UNMISS personnel is utterly abhorrent and may constitute a war crime under international law. We deeply regret the tragic loss of our colleague and express our sincere condolences to his loved ones," said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS Nicholas Haysom. "We also deeply regret the killing of those that we were attempting to extract, particularly when assurances of safe passage had been received. UNMISS urges an investigation to determine those responsible and hold them liable."