Key takeaways:
- Defence Minister Anita Anand is anticipated to make an announcement Thursday.
- Outgoing British prime minister Boris Johnson dedicated to the training program in mid-June while meeting with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
CBC News has discovered that Canada is ready to execute a contingent of soldiers to the British Army’s ambitious plan to turn Ukrainian civilians into fighting armies.
Outgoing British prime minister Boris Johnson devoted to the training program in mid-June while meeting with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
Up to 10,000 Ukrainian fighters are anticipated to fly to the U.K. for the introductory and professional military courses that last five weeks. The first tranche of Ukrainian draftees came, and instruction started in early July.
Three sources aware of the file but not allowed to speak publicly told CBC News that Canada plans to contribute to the British-led effort.
Defence Minister Anita Anand is anticipated to declare it today formally.
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The plan amounts to the restart of Operation Unifier, the long-standing training task which saw —till its hiatus last winter — almost 35,000 Ukrainian fighters given advanced combat instruction by Canadian troopers.
That mission, driven on Ukrainian soil, was stopped, and the armies pulled out of the eastern European nation in mid-February on the eve of the full-scale Russian attack.
It affected approximately 200 soldiers and had a contingent. Two of the three sources said the latest ambition with the British will “concern around the same number.”
A third source was more precise, saying the new plan will have three training units with around 60 members, plus other command staff.
The Ukrainian government has often pressed Canada to continue the training in a third nation, said diplomatic sources, who spoke individually to CBC News and were given obscurity because of the sensitivity of the file.
Source – CBC News
