‘The true cost of peace’: UN honours fallen peacekeepers as dangers mount — OON

The United Nations paused on Friday to pay tribute to the more than 4,500 peacekeepers who lost their lives in the line of duty over the past 78 years. 

The commemoration of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers came hours after another blue helmet serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) died from injuries sustained in a mortar attack, as hostilities continue between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants. 

The day began with UN Secretary-General António Guterres laying a wreath at the Peacekeepers Memorial on the Secretariat grounds in New York before presiding over a solemn ceremony in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) attended by senior officials, the diplomatic community, and bereaved family members and colleagues. 

Service and sacrifice 

“Unfortunately, as events of this very week remind us, peacekeepers continue to face peril in the cause of peace – and we pay the highest tribute to their service and sacrifice,” he said. 

The Secretary-General posthumously bestowed the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal on 68 peacekeepers from 33 nations, including 59 who paid the ultimate price last year. Their photos were displayed on a screen and their names read out as country representatives accepted the boxed medals. 

“They represent the best of humanity – people prepared to risk everything to keep others safe,” he said. 

Bravery awards 

Two peacekeepers were rewarded for their bravery, receiving the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage – named after a Senegalese military officer killed in Rwanda in 1994. 

Sergeant Matias Reyes of Uruguay saved lives serving under the UN flag in the restive eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in January 2025. The Ebola outbreak there prevented him from travelling to New York.

The other recipient, Sergii Prykhodko of Ukraine - a private contractor with a helicopter crew at the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) - sacrificed his life during a dangerous mission to evacuate besieged soldiers in March 2025. 

“This medal honours his bravery, but it also reminds us of the true cost of peace – the sacrifices made by those who serve far from home for the sake of people they may never meet,” his widow Tetiana Prykhodko told the gathering. 

Putting others first

Speaking afterwards to UN News, she recalled that her husband “always went where help was needed, knowing that danger could be unavoidable,” and had agreed to volunteer with the UN because he wanted to help others.

“He did what he had always done — he put others before himself. And I believe his example of serving peace is an example for all of us,” she said.

Mrs. Prykhodko, who attended the ceremony with their six-year-old daughter Elizabeth, wanted her husband to be remembered for his humanity, courage, and sense of responsibility.

"For our family, it is a great honour that the United Nations remembers Sergii not only as a fallen hero, but as a person who chose humanity every single day." 

Courage amid danger 

More than 50,000 peacekeepers are currently deployed across the globe where their mandated tasks include protecting civilians, supporting elections, delivering humanitarian assistance and clearing landmines. 

“The courage we recognize this morning is not abstract,” said the head of UN Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix. “It is lived every day by peacekeepers serving in some of the world’s most dangerous and difficult environments.” 

The peacekeeper killed in southern Lebanon on Thursday, Sergeant Milovan Jovanović of Serbia, was the seventh UNIFIL blue helmet cut down since hostilities escalated in March. 

Mr. Lacroix said this was his first peacekeeping deployment, having arrived in the country in January, and he would have turned 37 on Saturday.