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The Department of National Defense and the office of Defense Minister Anita Anand did not comment on the report.
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June 25, 2022 • 4 hours ago • 3 minute reading The facade of the National Defense Department’s headquarters in Ottawa. Photo by Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Canadian special forces are in Ukraine as part of a NATO network to provide weapons, train and gather information about the Russians, the New York Times reports.
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Neither the Department of National Defense nor the office of Defense Minister Anita Anand commented on the report released on Saturday which noted that dozens of commandos from NATO countries, including Britain, France, Canada and Lithuania, they had been working in Ukraine. The United States withdrew its own 150 military instructors before the war began in February.
But the New York Times, citing three U.S. officials, reported that special forces from NATO countries remained or had left or entered and left Ukraine ever since, training and advising Ukrainian troops and providing a field conduit for weapons and other aid.
U.S. special forces have also established a coalition planning cell in Germany to coordinate military assistance to Ukrainian commandos and other Ukrainian troops, the New York Times reported. The cell, which has grown to 20 nations, is based on a similar structure that the U.S. and its NATO allies used in Afghanistan.
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U.S. Army Secretary Christine E. Wormuth has confirmed that the cell provides intelligence and coordination for the NATO arms flow to Ukraine, allowing these convoys to prevent Russian attacks.
Both CTV and Global News reported in late January that Canadian special forces had been sent to Ukraine, but National Defense did not comment on the deployment.
The liberal government is very favorable to Ukraine. It is still in talks with South Korea to buy 100,000 artillery shells for Ukraine in a deal that could cost Canadian taxpayers several hundred million dollars.
The Liberal government has already spent $ 98 million to buy 20,000 rounds of similar artillery in the US for Ukraine. In addition, it has supplied Ukraine with M777 artillery cannons from the Canadian Forces that can use 155 millimeter ammunition.
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In addition to artillery, Canada has sent Carl Gustaf anti-tank systems, grenades and drone cameras to Ukraine. In February, it also sent a shipment that included .50-caliber sniper rifles equipped with silencers, 60-millimeter mortars, grenade launchers, pistols, ammunition, thermal imaging binoculars, cameras, visors, and medical supplies. The equipment was enough to equip a force of between 500 and 600 people. The shipment also included C6 and C9 machine guns, used by the Canadian Forces.
NATO nations have been sending large quantities of weapons to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of that country on February 24th. Some NATO officials see the war as an opportunity to force regime change in Russia or to severely weaken that country militarily.
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On May 9, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told the Associated Press that removing Russian President Vladimir Putin from power was the only way to protect the West and its allies from future threats. Landsbergis noted that not only Putin should be eliminated, but also all members of his inner circle.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, a retired four-star U.S. general, said earlier this year that, with enough equipment, Ukraine could defeat Russia. Austin told reporters that the US wanted to see “Russia weakened to the point that it cannot do the kind of things it has done by invading Ukraine.”
In addition, NATO’s push to send billions of dollars in arms to Ukraine has come as a surprise to mainly U.S. defense companies, as the U.S., Canada and other nations will have to replace the their stocks. The U.S. Pentagon has already placed new orders for missiles and other equipment. The Pentagon has estimated that it will eventually provide Ukraine with $ 20 billion in military aid.
The head of the Canadian Defense Staff, General Wayne Eyre, has called on defense companies to move to a wartime production level so that more weapons can be acquired.
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