Canada Will Donate $18.4Mln Worth of Winter Gear, Ammunition to Ukraine

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Canada will send winter gear and several types of ammunition rounds as part of its new C$25 million ($18.4 million) military assistance package for Ukraine, Defence Minister Bill Blair said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Blair attended the 16th Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting in Brussels, hosted by Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin.

“At the meeting [UDCG], Minister Blair announced that Canada will donate $25 million worth of winter clothing and equipment to Ukraine. This includes boots, thermal layers, and winter sleeping bags. This also includes patterned military uniforms for 2000 female Armed Forces of Ukraine soldiers, which will be manufactured in Canada. This donation is funded by the $500 million tranche in funding for military assistance to Ukraine announced by Prime Minister Trudeau in June 2023,” the ministry said in a statement.

The package also includes 2,000 rounds of 155mm ammunition, smoke ammunition, 277 1,000-pound aircraft bombs and associated fuse assemblies, and various types of 76mm naval ammunition, as well as 2260 gas masks.

The ministry also reported that it delivered last week 8,000 rounds of 155mm ammunition, 10,000 rounds of 105mm artillery rounds, and nearly 2 million rounds of 7.62mm small arms ammunition to Ukraine.

Since January 2022, the Canadian government has provided over C$9 billion in financial, humanitarian, development, immigration and other assistance to Kiev, including C$2.4 billion in military support.