A resident looks into a crater left by a shell in a residential area in Druzhkivka, eastern Ukraine, March 30.MAURICIO LIMA/The New York Times News Service
A major Ukrainian Canadian advocacy group said it’s surprised and concerned by how little the federal government allocated in the 2023 budget for new military aid to Ukraine, saying it hopes Ottawa has more spending in store than what was divulged.
Ihor Michalchyshyn, CEO and executive director of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), said Ukraine needs more aid to prepare it for an upcoming spring offensive against Russia.
“Helping Ukraine win this war sooner rather than later is essential,” Mr. Michalchyshyn said.
He said the UCC, which advocates on behalf of Canadians of Ukrainian origin, was disappointed to see that the federal government allocated $200-million in the 2023 budget for Ukrainian military aid. The budget document said this money was for “donations of existing Canadian Armed Forces military equipment to Ukraine.” A significant portion of these funds reflect an already-announced decision to send eight of Canada’s Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
His group had asked Ottawa to make room in its budget to send more heavy weapons, tanks and air defence systems to Ukraine. It had also asked for support that enables the provision of fighter aircraft and naval defence systems.
In the previous budget, for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the federal government announced $500-million for military aid to Ukraine. But then it surpassed this amount in the months that followed. Canada has donated more than $1-billion in military equipment for Ukraine, including armoured vehicles, a sophisticated surface-to-air missile system, 39 armoured combat support vehicles, four M777 howitzer guns as well as anti-tank weapons and small arms.
As recently as mid-March, before the 2023 budget, Defence Minister Anita Anand promised Canada’s support for Ukraine was not limited.
“We are strengthening our collaboration with our allies and partners and are continuing to respond to Ukraine’s military needs with comprehensive military aid,” she said following a meeting with allies on Ukraine. “We will continue to do whatever it takes to safeguard freedom, democracy and the rules-based international order.”
On Thursday, Ms. Anand’s office referred questions to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office as to why the 2023 budget contained relatively little money for additional military aid to Ukraine or whether the federal government would announce more later.
Adrienne Vaupshas, press secretary for Ms. Freeland, who is also the federal Finance Minister, did not directly answer the questions. Instead, she noted that Canada has delivered more than $5.4-billion in total aid to Ukraine since Russia’s assault began, has provided a safe haven for more than 200,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war and has “helped lead global efforts to hold Putin and his henchmen accountable for their illegal and barbaric war” – measures that include sanctions.
She noted that the 2023 budget provides an additional financial loan to Ukraine of $2.4-billion and said Canada’s backing for Ukrainians would continue indefinitely. The new loan helps ensure “that Ukraine’s government can continue to operate, and we will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Ms. Freeland’s spokesperson said.
The budget also provides more than $170-million to help resettle more Ukrainians fleeing the war.
Russia’s assault has come at an enormous cost to Ukraine, where more than eight million have fled the country as refugees and where, according to a British defence think tank, more than 47 per cent of companies have ceased operating.
The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) also said that, according to estimates from the Kyiv School of Economics, damage to Ukraine as a result of Russia’s invasion has reached US$137.8-billion, including destroyed bridges, schools, hospitals and homes.
RUSI noted that while Ukraine is reluctant to divulge military casualties, it had acknowledged in December, 2022, that as many as 13,000 soldiers had died.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on March 20 that it has counted more than 8,300 Ukrainian civilians killed in the country since late February, 2022, and more than 13,800 injured. It said the actual numbers are likely considerably higher than what it’s been able to document.
Ukrainian forces have stuck mainly to a defensive footing since their last big advance nearly five months ago. In that time, Moscow has launched a winter assault using hundreds of thousands of reservists and thousands of convicts recruited from prisons for its Wagner private army.
But as the winter turns to spring, questions hover over how much longer the Russians can sustain their offensive and when the Ukrainians will strike back.
The week has also seen the arrival of the first full units of Western main battle tanks for Kyiv, promised two months ago to serve as the spearhead of a counteroffensive when warmer weather dries muddy ground.
With a report from Reuters