CRISIS LEAVES TROOPS IN LIMBO.
‘Operational pause’ may be extended
OTTAWA • The COVID-19 crisis has left 200 Canadian soldiers in Ukraine — and their families back home — in limbo as commanders weigh whether they should be replaced with new troops, kept in place for the time being or pulled out entirely until the pandemic subsides.
Canada has had military trainers in the eastern European country since the summer of 2015, during which time they have instructed around 17,000 Ukrainian troops in the basics of soldiering as well as some advanced skills such as first aid and explosives disposal.
The mission was launched after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and started to support separatist forces in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region in a war that has killed more than 10,000 and left tens of thousands more wounded and homeless.
The current Canadian contingent arrived in Ukraine in October and was supposed to be replaced by a new group next month, but those plans are now up in the air because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Canadian Armed Forces “is currently assessing whether the relief in place of forces will proceed as planned given the implications COVID-19 is imposing upon the force,” Capt. Alexia Croizer of the Canadian Joint Operations Command told The Canadian Press in an email.
“A decision by the CAF is expected shortly and will be communicated to members and families first and foremost.”
Defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance this month ordered a halt to all non-essential military movement and activities to protect the force from COVID-19 while those involved in the training mission — like most Canadian troops deployed overseas — are on lockdown due to the pandemic.
The military’s “operational pause” was expected to last only three weeks, but in a letter to military personnel last week, Vance said Forces members must “face the reality” that it may last longer to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and the respiratory illness it causes.
Ukrainian public health officials reported 84 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country as of Tuesday, with three deaths. There were two confirmed cases in the western city of Lviv, near where some of Canadian troops are based.
Retired lieutenant-general Marquis Hainse says Canadian commanders face a tough decision.
“I would not want our people to be exposed unnecessarily,” said Hainse, a former Canadian Army commander who now sits on the board of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute. “You have to ask yourself also: What are we accomplishing with that mission right now?”
At the same time, he said the training mission is important to both Canada and Ukraine and should the government decide to withdraw them, “what does that mean for our partners, the message that we send from an international point of view? We need to take this all in consideration.”