Canada and Latvia will begin training Ukrainian soldiers on Latvian soil starting next week, Defence Minister Anita Anand said Wednesday.
“Led by a Canadian lieutenant colonel, the training will instruct Ukrainian junior officers on responsibilities in battle, the process of planning and orders, manoeuvre coordination, intelligence reconnaissance, planning and executing,” Anand said from the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
The training, which begins May 15, will continue alongside Canada’s training efforts under Operation Unifier, currently underway in Poland and the United Kingdom.
Latvian Defence Minister Ināra Mūrniece, who is visiting Ottawa, told reporters that Canada and Latvia are doing “tremendous work” to help train the Ukrainian military.
“I am very proud that Canada and Latvia have agreed on a joint leadership training program for Ukrainians which will help Ukrainians fight against Russian occupation. In this effort … we are together,” she said.
Anand said the expansion of the training program reflects how “our world is growing increasingly dark.”
“This war does not seem to have an end in the near term and we have to continue to do whatever we can to aid Ukraine in its time of need,” she said.
Helping Ukraine maintain its democracy and sovereignty is important to Canada and the world, she said, because it protects the international rules-based order that has kept the peace since the Second World War.
WATCH: Ukraine war doesn’t seem to have an end in ‘near term,” says Anand
Defence Minister Anita Anand says Canada will continue to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Canada has about 80 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members deployed to Poland, according to the Department of National Defence.
About 45 of those soldiers are combat engineers tasked with training Ukrainians in advanced engineering skills, reconnaissance and the use of explosives.
Another 25 CAF members are training tank crews in the use of the Leopard 2 main battle tanks. The remaining ten CAF personnel are teaching Ukrainian solders skills and tactics to help them save lives in combat situations.
In the U.K., about 170 Canadian Forces members are training Ukrainians in frontline combat skills, first aid, tactics and the legalities of armed combat.
Building up to brigade strength in Latvia
Almost a year ago at the NATO summit in Madrid, leaders of the Western military alliance ordered the conversion of battle groups in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to full combat brigades of 4,000 to 6,000 troops each, depending on the availability of equipment.
According to two recent reports — one from the U.K. House of Commons, the other from a Warsaw-based international affairs think-tank — making that happen has proved to be a struggle.
Anand said that work is making progress, although it remains in the early stages.
“The planning we are undertaking and the subject of much of our discussion today was, what are the stages that we will be going through as we move to brigade level?” she said.
Anand said Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre is in Brussels working on securing commitments for the brigade.
“That is the first stage and that is the stage that we are making good progress on, but that is still ongoing and we will continue to put the firmness of those commitments in place as we move forward,” Anand said.
Once commitments have been made by the 11 nations participating in the brigade, Anand said, the next step will be to ensure the right command and control structures are in place. Once that’s done, she said, it will be time to physically put those capabilities together on the ground.
About 800 CAF members are deployed to Latvia, where Canada has served as the framework nation for the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group in Latvia since 2017.
“We are really happy with Canada as a framework nation. Please believe me, I can assure you on that,” said Mūrniece.
Canada’s role in Latvia, Mūrniece said, has boosted its visibility in the Baltic states and across NATO’s eastern flank.
“Yes, scaling up of the [Enhanced Forward Presence] battlegroup to a combat capable brigade, it’s work in progress,” Mūrniece said. “But it’s very clear we have this aim and we are going step by step.”