Canada to start the delivery of non-lethal military equipment to Ukraine 0808144

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Defence & Security News - Canada

 
 
Friday, August 8, 2014 10:24 AM
 
Canada to start the delivery of non-lethal military equipment to Ukraine.
Canada announced it started to provide Ukraine with non-lethal military equipment in “yet another action that Canada is taking to help the people of Ukraine put an end to the insurgency,” Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement.
     
Canada announced it started to provide Ukraine with non-lethal military equipment in “yet another action that Canada is taking to help the people of Ukraine put an end to the insurgency,” Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement.
Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper

     
“This equipment – which includes helmets, ballistic eyewear, protective vests, first aid kits, tents and sleeping bags – will provide physical and medical protection to those on the front lines against the insurgency,” Harper said.

“The logistic equipment provided will allow Ukrainian security and border authorities to better detect and track the movement of illicit goods and people. It is what Ukraine has asked us for and we are delivering.”

The first detachment of the military assistance is scheduled to depart for Ukraine late Thursday and will be “the first of a series of flights to deliver non-kinetic military equipment that Ukraine will be able to use to secure and protect its eastern border.”

Fighting in eastern Ukraine broke out in mid-April, when, following a February 22 coup, the newly-instated Ukrainian government launched a military operation to suppress independence supporters, who have refused to acknowledge the new authorities. According to the latest UN report, the conflict has claimed the lives of more than 1,100 civilians since then, with nearly 3,500 injured.

Moscow has repeatedly condemned Kiev’s “war against its own people” and urged an immediate stop to the punitive operation, advocating a peaceful resolution to the crisis.