May 9, 2015 – Ottawa, Ontario – Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced new support to enhance the capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in their fight to defend their country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Canada will contribute $1.2 million to build additional capacity within the medical system of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence.
Ukrainian servicemen ride in an armoured vehicle near Kramatorsk. A multinational peacekeeping exercise in Ukraine that is held annually will begin Sept. 11. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
Canada also delivered individual tactical medical kits today to 100 Ukrainian soldiers at a military base in Desna, north of Kyiv. The delivery, Canada’s latest transfer of non-lethal equipment to Ukraine, took place at an event attended by Roman Waschuk, Canada’s Ambassador to Ukraine, and Colonel Oleksiy Vukolov, commander of the Desna military base.
Quick Facts
Today’s announcement follows two days of training that prepared Ukrainian soldiers to treat combat-related injuries and to use these Canadian medical kits. This training was an initiative of Toronto’s Ukrainian World Congress and was provided by Patriot Defence, a Kyiv-based volunteer group.
Canada is providing a total of 1,600 tactical medical kits and a mobile field hospital. This is in addition to the donations provided in the last months, with Canada having provided the Ukrainian Armed Forces approximately 30,000 sets of coats, pants and ballistic eyewear, 70,000 pairs of cold and wet weather boots, 7,000 helmets, 2,300 protective vests, 300 first aid kits, 100 tents and 735 sleeping bags; 238 night-vision goggles are also being provided.
Canada will deploy approximately 200 Canadian Armed Forces personnel to Ukraine until March 31, 2017, to develop and deliver military training and capacity-building programs for Ukrainian forces personnel.
Quote
“Canada is closely monitoring the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. What we have seen so far are hundreds of attacks on Ukrainian Forces by Russian-backed forces, which is cause for serious concern. Canada commends the Ukrainian people for their courage and resilience in the face of Russian aggression, and we will continue to support Ukraine as it works toward its future as a secure, stable and prosperous democracy.”
– Rob Nicholson, Minister of Foreign Affair
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