Canada donating hundreds of drones to help war effort in Ukraine
The federal government is donating more than 800 drones to help the war ef‐ fort in Ukraine, Defence Minister Bill Blair an‐ nounced Monday.
The SkyRanger R70 drones are made in Waterloo, Ont., and can carry cargo weighing up to 3.5 kilograms. The drones can be coupled with surveillance cameras to carry out reconnaissance missions, Blair said Monday.
"These drones are going to help Ukraine's front line troops assess targets and threats quickly with accuracy and effectiveness," Blair said during a press conference in Toronto.
The cost of the drones roughly $95 million - comes from the $500-million military aid package announced by the government in June. Blair said the drones are expected to be delivered to Ukraine by the spring.
WATCH | Canada to send drones to Ukraine:
2 years since invasion began
This coming week will mark two years since Russia's fullscale invasion of Ukraine be‐ gan.
Canada's announcement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges Western allies to provide his country with more military as‐ sistance, especially long-range munitions.
Zelenskyy said Monday in a social media post that Rus‐ sia is taking advantage of de‐ lays in military aid.
"The situation on the front line is extremely difficult in several areas, particularly where Russian forces have concentrated the majority of their reserves," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"We are working with part‐ ners to resume and continue assistance while also increas‐ ing the strength of our own domestic defence industry."
Blair was asked Monday if Canada could provide more weapons - specifically artillery shells and air-defence sys‐ tems.
The minister said Ottawa has provided Ukraine with ar‐ tillery shells from Canada's own stockpile. He added that the government is looking at ways for Canada to increase domestic production of muni‐ tions, though he cautioned that would "take time."
U.S. funding for Ukraine stalled
He also said that the promise of $406 million worth of sur‐ face-to-air missile defence sys‐ tems, known by the acronym NASAMS, has been caught up in the U.S. legislative quag‐ mire over aid to Ukraine.
Democrats in the U.S. Con‐ gress have sought to pass leg‐ islation that would provide billions in aid to Ukraine, Tai‐ wan and Israel, as well as im‐ plement new measures on immigration. But Republicans have blocked the legislation, arguing it does not contain strict enough provisions around the U.S. border.
Blair said Monday that Canada had agreed to buy NASAMS for Ukraine along with the U.S., but that the purchase won't go through until the military aid is ap‐ proved by Congress.
"We are pushing as hard as we can to get those systems delivered. The Americans themselves have run into po‐ litical process challenges that they're working through, but that doesn't take away the ur‐ gency," Blair said.
Roland Paris, a former for‐ eign affairs adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said the delay in U.S. aid is "the biggest threat to Ukraine's de‐ fensive capabilities."
"Ukraine is suffering a growing shortage of artillery ammunition and air de‐ fences," he told CBC News. "That gap needs to be closed in order for Ukraine to be able to put up a stiffer defence against Russian offensives."
Avdiivka withdrawal signals need for aid
Maria Popova, a political sci‐ ence professor at McGill Uni‐ versity, echoed Paris's point. She pointed to the recent an‐ nouncement that Ukraine is withdrawing from the eastern city of Avdiivka as an exam‐ ple.
"The fall of the city is ab‐ solutely the result of aid to Ukraine being blocked in the U.S. for months now," she said.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine's military chief, said over the weekend that he's withdrawing troops from
Avdiivka, where they've bat‐ tled a Russian assault for four months.
Capturing the city is seen as key to Moscow's aim of se‐ curing the Donbas region - a key Kremlin goal since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine started.
Ukraine's withdrawal from the city of Avdiivka marks the biggest change on the front lines since May when Russian troops captured the city of Bakhmut, also located in the Donbas.
"Ukraine needs massive military help as soon as possi‐ ble in order to hold off or re‐ verse further Russian gains," Popova said.