Canada’s work ‘effective’: official

33,000 Ukrainian soldiers trained

OTTAWA • The most recent commander of Canada’s military training mission in Ukraine says the fact Russia has sanctioned him and several of his predecessors alongside dozens of other prominent Canadians is proof the mission had an impact.

Lt.-col. Luc-frederic Gilbert is one of six former commanders of the training mission known as Operation Unifier sanctioned by Russia last week as Moscow added 61 Canadians to the list of those now banned from entering the country.

“I’m really proud of what we accomplished,” Gilbert told The Canadian Press in an interview when asked about his inclusion on Russia’s list of sanctioned Canadians.

“And this is a great measure of effectiveness.”

Among the other former Operation Unifier commanders sanctioned were Lt.-col. Sarah Heer and Lt.col. Melanie Lake, who also described the addition of the six senior Canadian officers as a sign of the mission’s worth.

Canada first established Operation Unifier in 2015. The move was in direct response to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and its provision of weapons, ammunition and even troops to pro-russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The purpose of the mission, which evolved several times before being suspended ahead of Russia’s invasion, was to help Ukraine transform its post-soviet military into a modern fighting force capable of defending the country.

The federal government says more than 33,000 Ukrainian soldiers were trained by Canada before the mission was suspended less than two weeks before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February.

Gilbert was on the ground when the order came down from Ottawa for his 250 troops to pack up and leave Ukraine for Poland prior to Russia’s attack. He says while he understands the order to leave, it was nevertheless “a bit weird for us.”

“Once we were relocated in Poland, this is where we went: ‘That just happened,’ ” Gilbert recalled.

“The feeling is a bit weird for us because this is against our nature . ... We are trained to (fight), we are not supposed to leave in those types of situations.”

Canada and its allies said in the lead-up to Russia’s invasion that they would not deploy troops into Ukraine, fearing such a move would escalate the conflict and lead to an all-out war between Russia and the NATO military alliance.

Western countries have instead been providing financial and military support to Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Russia.