The Ukrainian ambassador in Israel, Mr. Ihor Tymofieiev and the Ukrainian security attaché, Col. Ivan Plyska met on Thursday with the Head of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and thanked him and the Israel Defense Forces for the aid provided by the Israel Navy and the Air Force in rescuing Ukrainian crew members from a trade ship that sunk near the Lebanese shore on December 12th, 2009.
The Ukrainian ambassador passed Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi a letter from his counterpart, the Head of the General Staff of the Ukrainian military about the IDF’s activity to rescue the lives of the crew members.
The ambassador noted that following the event, he felt a close relationship had been formed between the two nations and that he views IDF forces as friends and partners.
Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi thanked the ambassador for his kind words and said that IDF soldiers operated in order to save lives and would continue to do so in the future.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian ambassador and the security attaché visited the IAF’s search and rescue units and personally thanked the forces that were involved in the rescue operation.
{Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}
