Canada's Non-Lethal Military Equipment Begins Arriving in Ukraine

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Canadian-made non-lethal military hardware has begun to arrive in Kiev, including surveillance and sighting equipment and mobile hospitals, Defense Minister Anita Anand said on Tuesday, as tensions continue to mount over Ukraine.

"It [equipment] has begun to arrive already," Anand told a press briefing. "[I]t would be surveillance equipment, night vision equipment, goggles, mobile hospitals, equipment that would be used in the case of detonation of explosives."

More than 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained by the Canadian armed forces, including 2,000 members of the Ukrainian National Guard, over the past seven years, Anand added.

Last week, Anand announced that Canada will deploy up to 400 personnel in total to assist the Ukrainian military, and 60 of them will be deploying in the next several days.

In recent months, Western countries have accused Russia of a troop buildup near the border with Ukraine with an alleged plan to attack. Moscow has dismissed the claims, which it considers to be a pretext for NATO to deploy more troops and military equipment closer to Russian borders.