diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index d138bf04..8cb857c9 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ Saves from 4.x are not compatible with 5.0.
 ## Fixes
 
 * **[Campaign]** Naval control points will no longer claim ground objectives during campaign generation and prevent them from spawning.
+* **[Mission Generation]** Mission results and other files will now be opened with enforced utf-8 encoding to prevent an issue where destroyed ground units were untracked because of special characters in their names.
 * **[UI]** Selling of Units is now visible again in the UI dialog and shows the correct amount of sold units
 
 # 4.1.1
diff --git a/game/dcs/aircrafttype.py b/game/dcs/aircrafttype.py
index 1ce958ca..b54d9bc0 100644
--- a/game/dcs/aircrafttype.py
+++ b/game/dcs/aircrafttype.py
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ class AircraftType(UnitType[Type[FlyingType]]):
             logging.warning(f"No data for {aircraft.id}; it will not be available")
             return
 
-        with data_path.open() as data_file:
+        with data_path.open(encoding="utf-8") as data_file:
             data = yaml.safe_load(data_file)
 
         try:
diff --git a/game/dcs/groundunittype.py b/game/dcs/groundunittype.py
index c22d8a21..db93aa49 100644
--- a/game/dcs/groundunittype.py
+++ b/game/dcs/groundunittype.py
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ class GroundUnitType(UnitType[Type[VehicleType]]):
             logging.warning(f"No data for {vehicle.id}; it will not be available")
             return
 
-        with data_path.open() as data_file:
+        with data_path.open(encoding="utf-8") as data_file:
             data = yaml.safe_load(data_file)
 
         try:
diff --git a/game/debriefing.py b/game/debriefing.py
index b2a155ad..e756f043 100644
--- a/game/debriefing.py
+++ b/game/debriefing.py
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ class PollDebriefingFileThread(threading.Thread):
                     os.path.isfile("state.json")
                     and os.path.getmtime("state.json") > last_modified
                 ):
-                    with open("state.json", "r") as json_file:
+                    with open("state.json", "r", encoding="utf-8") as json_file:
                         json_data = json.load(json_file)
                         debriefing = Debriefing(json_data, self.game, self.unit_map)
                         self.callback(debriefing)
diff --git a/game/operation/operation.py b/game/operation/operation.py
index 3c070ba9..87b440d6 100644
--- a/game/operation/operation.py
+++ b/game/operation/operation.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class Operation:
 
     @classmethod
     def prepare(cls, game: Game) -> None:
-        with open("resources/default_options.lua", "r") as f:
+        with open("resources/default_options.lua", "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
             options_dict = loads(f.read())["options"]
         cls._set_mission(Mission(game.theater.terrain))
         cls.game = game
diff --git a/game/version.py b/game/version.py
index 87d8a841..d89d875d 100644
--- a/game/version.py
+++ b/game/version.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ def _build_version_string() -> str:
     ]
     build_number_path = Path("resources/buildnumber")
     if build_number_path.exists():
-        with build_number_path.open("r") as build_number_file:
+        with build_number_path.open("r", encoding="utf-8") as build_number_file:
             components.append(build_number_file.readline())
 
     if not Path("resources/final").exists():
diff --git a/qt_ui/main.py b/qt_ui/main.py
index 09cfd011..67609d11 100644
--- a/qt_ui/main.py
+++ b/qt_ui/main.py
@@ -64,7 +64,8 @@ def run_ui(game: Optional[Game]) -> None:
     # init the theme and load the stylesheet based on the theme index
     liberation_theme.init()
     with open(
-        "./resources/stylesheets/" + liberation_theme.get_theme_css_file()
+        "./resources/stylesheets/" + liberation_theme.get_theme_css_file(),
+        encoding="utf-8",
     ) as stylesheet:
         logging.info("Loading stylesheet: %s", liberation_theme.get_theme_css_file())
         app.setStyleSheet(stylesheet.read())
diff --git a/qt_ui/windows/QWaitingForMissionResultWindow.py b/qt_ui/windows/QWaitingForMissionResultWindow.py
index f4ce44fb..0361fcaa 100644
--- a/qt_ui/windows/QWaitingForMissionResultWindow.py
+++ b/qt_ui/windows/QWaitingForMissionResultWindow.py
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ class QWaitingForMissionResultWindow(QDialog):
         )
         print(file)
         try:
-            with open(file[0], "r") as json_file:
+            with open(file[0], "r", encoding="utf-8") as json_file:
                 json_data = json.load(json_file)
                 json_data["mission_ended"] = True
                 debriefing = Debriefing(json_data, self.game, self.unit_map)
diff --git a/qt_ui/windows/newgame/QCampaignList.py b/qt_ui/windows/newgame/QCampaignList.py
index 8d2c1fd2..1fae35bc 100644
--- a/qt_ui/windows/newgame/QCampaignList.py
+++ b/qt_ui/windows/newgame/QCampaignList.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class Campaign:
 
     @classmethod
     def from_file(cls, path: Path) -> Campaign:
-        with path.open() as campaign_file:
+        with path.open(encoding="utf-8") as campaign_file:
             if path.suffix == ".yaml":
                 data = yaml.safe_load(campaign_file)
             else: