Canada sending 40 military engineers to train Ukraine forces

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OTTAWA — Canada is sending 40 army engineers to Poland to coach Ukrainian forces of their struggle in opposition to Russia, following airstrikes on civilians which have G7 leaders pledging to help Kyiv “for so long as it takes.”

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The brand new help comes days after an explosion broken an necessary bridge connecting Russia and the Crimean peninsula. That reduce off a serious army provide route Saturday for Russia, which annexed the world in 2014.

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The Ukrainian authorities applauded the transfer, however no one claimed accountability as of Tuesday afternoon.

In retaliation, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered missile strikes on a number of Ukrainian cities Monday, killing civilians and damaging key infrastructure in assaults the UN human rights workplace deemed “notably surprising.”

“The Russians’ missile strikes on civilians, on innocents, folks commuting to work (and) children taking part in in parks, are focused at civilians and civilian infrastructure,” Trudeau mentioned Tuesday at an unrelated occasion in Quebec

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Earlier that day, Defence Minister Anita Anand had introduced the brand new coaching deployment throughout a go to to Warsaw, earlier than a deliberate assembly with NATO counterparts in Belgium.

The Division of Nationwide Defence says the engineers shall be hooked up to a Polish-led coaching effort targeted on educating Ukrainians the best way to use explosives, amongst different issues.

The brand new contribution is on prime of roughly 225 army trainers already working with Ukrainian forces as a part of a British-led coaching mission.

It’s also along with the deployment of three Hercules transport planes to Scotland, the place the plane are serving to ship provides to Ukrainian forces.

Trudeau phoned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in regards to the airstrikes, pledging extra sanctions on Russia in addition to extra army and humanitarian help.

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Zelenskyy has requested for some kind of air protect to intercept Russian missiles, and Trudeau didn’t reply when requested whether or not Canada would help or rule out that concept.

In March, Ottawa steered away from Zelenskyy’s calls for for a no-fly zone, citing the danger of the West getting into direct, armed battle with Russia.

Canada summoned Russia’s ambassador Monday over the airstrikes, and the leaders of the G7, representing a few of the world’s superior economies, decried the occasions as doable struggle crimes.

“We are going to proceed to offer monetary, humanitarian, army, diplomatic and authorized help and can stand firmly with Ukraine for so long as it takes,” learn a joint assertion launched Tuesday.

The G7, which incorporates Canada, mentioned it helps an finish to the struggle that acknowledges Ukraine’s sovereignty and holds Russia accountable for the struggle, together with having that nation fund Ukraine’s reconstruction.

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Trudeau argued that the Russian airstrikes communicate to desperation.

The pinnacle of Britain’s cyberintelligence company, Jeremy Fleming, mentioned Tuesday that Russia is operating out of army provides and struggling to fill its ranks.

“Russia’s forces are exhausted,” Fleming mentioned. “Using prisoners as reinforcements, and now the mobilization of tens of hundreds of inexperienced conscripts, speaks of a determined state of affairs.”

In a Tuesday press briefing, Russia’s international ministry claimed the strike on the bridge to Crimea amounted to a terrorist assault that merited retribution.

The ministry additionally urged Ottawa to not supply extra arms and coaching to Ukraine’s army, arguing it prolongs the combating.

“The Russian-Canadian relationship is, sadly, in a deep disaster,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova mentioned in Russian.

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“It’s the fault of Ottawa officialdom, as a result of it follows the anti-Russian path that it has been doing for a very long time, on the behest of the Trudeau regime.”

Zakharova additionally mentioned that as of Tuesday, Russia’s embassy in Ottawa had not acquired any replace in regards to the RCMP probe right into a Molotov cocktail allegedly being thrown over the fence a month in the past, with out exploding.

The RCMP didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

“It’s been a month now, and the Canadian police haven’t bothered to tell the embassy in regards to the preliminary outcomes of the investigation,” Zakharova mentioned, echoing the embassy’s name for round the clock police safety.

“That is customary in all nations that take into account themselves civilized.”

— With information from The Related Press and from Morgan Lowrie in Sorel-Tracy, Que.