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Canadian soldiers to take on training 'incompetent, corrupt' military in Ukraine: report

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper (R), with Canada's Chief of the Defence Staff General Tom Lawson, announces military support for Ukraine during a news conference in Ottawa April 14, 2015. REUTERS/Blair Gable

Canadian soldiers are heading to Ukraine to train military personnel there and none too soon, suggests one report.

Incompetence within the senior ranks of the Ukrainian army pose a serious risk to the former Eastern bloc country’s democratic future, says the report prepared earlier this month by the International Crisis Group.

“…incompetent, sometimes corrupt senior commanders are incapable of designing effective combat operations or unwilling to lead them, leaving junior officers on their own, under serious pressure,” says the report from the independent, non-profit organization that monitors global crises.

While a ceasefire is now in place, there is fear that war could resume any time.

“Ukraine’s army is enmeshed in a command crisis the country’s leaders seem unwilling to admit or address. For the separatist rebels, the command and control Moscow provides could give them the advantage in any new fighting,” says the report.

No one from the group was immediately available to comment.

The latest briefing report says Ukrainian forces are determined but lack competent leadership.

Meanwhile, under the Russian command, the rebel forces are growing into a functional army, the report says.

“The threat to the Kyiv government is serious and growing. There is a real risk that Russia will test its military and political resilience again in the coming months,” it says.

And this time, it may be in essence a joint operation under the command and control of the Russian military.

“The Russians are moving ahead with training the separatists, while the Ukrainian command still seems caught up in inner turmoil, and Western training of Ukrainian troops is only about to start,” the report warns.

“Close observers agree that a direct confrontation between the Russian and Ukrainian armies would end in another defeat for Kyiv.”

Two hundred Canadian Forces military trainers, including some who trained troops in Afghanistan, will arrive in Ukraine in early summer for a two-year commitment to train Ukrainian soldiers.

Defence Minister Jason Kenney stressed that the Canadian soldiers will be 1,300 kilometres from the front line in a non-combat role, stationed instead at a NATO training centre in Yavoriv, near the border with Poland.

Canada joins the United States and Britain in deploying troops to Ukraine to train soldiers.

The Canadian Forces described Harper’s announcement as providing “additional military resources” to Ukrainian forces.

Indeed, since April of last year the federal government has deployed aircraft, navy ships and hundreds of Canadian Forces personnel to take part in NATO exercises and OSCE operations throughout eastern and central Europe due to the Ukraine crisis.

Former defence minister Rob Nicholson announced in December that Canada had signed a declaration of intent with Ukraine for joint military training and Canada has announced more than $400 million in loan guarantees and $120 million in funding for Ukraine over the next several years for everything from security and economic support to agricultural training.

Reaction to the announcement has been muted.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau expressed support, while NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair decried the lack of debate rather than the deployment itself.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress, welcomed the announcement.

“The training programs announced today will help save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers,” says president Paul Grod.

In fact, Grod wants the Canadian, U.S. and allied governments to deploy military equipment and “lethal assistance” to Ukraine.

“The only way to ensure a diplomatic solution is to provide Ukraine the defensive military equipment capable of repelling further military attacks” and further sanctions against those supporting the incursion, he says.

Marko Shevchenko, charge d’affaires of Ukraine to Canada, joined Defence Minister Jason Kenney at his news conference.

Shevchenko says 1.2 million Ukrainians have been displaced and more than 6,000 killed since the outbreak of hostilities in Crimea early last year.