Canadian Troops to 'Fine-Tune' Military Skills for Missions in Ukraine, Latvia

The Canadian Army starts war games on Monday to "fine-tune their soldiering skills" of its troops for foreign missions in such countries as Iraq, Ukraine and Latvia.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Canadian Armed Forces will launch military exercises dubbed Rugged Bear on Monday as part of their training for missions in Latvia, Iraq and Ukraine, country's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

"Starting tomorrow, 3 000 Canadian Army soldiers from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group from Petawawa, Ontario will fine-tune their soldiering skills during Exercise RUGGED BEAR at the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre in Wainwright, Alberta," the statement read.

The soldiers are set to be trained to a combat team standard, consisting of "a company of mechanized infantry soldiers in light armoured vehicles accompanied by a squadron of tanks and other enablers such as engineers or artillery."

"The purpose of Exercise RUGGED BEAR is for the Canadian Army to certify that these soldiers, under the banner of Task Force Tomahawk, have achieved the necessary Battle Task Standard (BTS). Achieving this BTS is a critical prerequisite for Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 17: an intensive training opportunity which will be conducted in May, also in Wainwright, as part of the unit’s Road to High Readiness," the statement said.

The drills are expected to run till May 4.