Canada’s Defence Minister Anita Anand made a surprise visit to Ukraine and announced Wednesday more military support to help Kyiv respond to Russia’s invasion.
Anand said Ottawa will be donating an additional 200 Canadian-made armoured vehicles worth $90 million. The vehicles are being purchased from Roshel, a company based in Mississauga, Ont.
On her one-day visit to the capital, Anand also held a bilateral meeting with Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov.
“During today’s productive visit to Kyiv, I met with Ukrainian officials including my friend and colleague, Minister Reznikov, to learn about Ukraine’s most pressing security needs, and to reaffirm Canada’s steadfast support,” said Anand in a statement Wednesday.
“Today’s donation of 200 armoured vehicles demonstrates our continued commitment to the security of the Ukrainian people.”
Canada sent eight of the same Roshel-made armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine last spring.
Anand’s visit on Wednesday came as a deadly helicopter crash killed Ukraine’s interior minister and other top officials. However, there was no immediate word on whether the crash, which was near a kindergarten, was an accident or related to the war.
Since Russia launched its offensive in February 2022, Canada has pledged more than $1 billion in military assistance to Ukraine and imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Moscow.
Some of the military assistance to Ukraine so far from Canada includes 39 armoured combat support vehicles, ammunition and M777 Howitzers, according to the government. More recently Ottawa promised to provide an American-made air defence system at a cost of $406 million.
The Ukrainian defence minister said such air-defence systems were his country’s top priority, as Russian missiles continue to rain down on civilian targets across the country, including a devastating strike on an apartment building over the weekend.
Speaking at joint news conference with Anand on Wednesday, Reznikov also reiterated the need for main battle tanks, describing such heavy weaponry as critical to protecting the lives of Ukrainian soldiers and conducting counter-offensives against Russian forces.
“The main difference between the armed forces of Ukraine and the Russian armed forces is that we are trying to save the lives of our defenders and don’t use them as cannon fodder as the Russians do,” he said in Ukrainian.
“Therefore, for us, it’s crucial to provide our armed forces with so-called armoured fists, which will breach the positions of the Russian Federation armed forces during counter offensive and will save the lives of our defenders.”
Canada has also provided billions in financial and humanitarian support to Ukraine.
In recent weeks, Russia has renewed its intense attacks on Ukraine in a war that is nearing the one-year mark.
Over the weekend, Ukraine suffered its deadliest attack on civilians at one location since last spring when a Russian missile struck an apartment building in the southeastern city of Dnipro, killing at least 45 people, including six children.
Anand is scheduled to attend a U.S.-led meeting on Ukraine in Germany on Friday.
“We will have, as allies, a full-fledged discussion of the capabilities that Ukraine wants and needs to fight and win this war,” Anand told reporters Wednesday during a virtual news conference from Kyiv.
— with files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press