As Russia presses forward, Ukraine pleads with Canada for armour, air defence

A leading member of the Ukrainian parliament delivered stark warnings to Canadian politicians and top defence officials this week in a series of mostly under-the-radar meetings in Ottawa ahead of the long-anticipated aid vote in the U.S. Congress.

Oleksandra Ustinova, the head of Ukraine's special parliamentary commission on arms and munitions, told Defence Minister Bill Blair, members of key House of Commons committees and military leaders that both time and weapons stocks are running out for her country.

"The message is very clear. There is urgency and Ukraine is going to lose if there is no more support coming," Ustinova told CBC News.

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to consider separate bills, proposed by the Republicans, to provide military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after more than two months of delays. A vote is expected in the U.S. House of Representatives later today.

The holdup involving more than $60 billion in U.S. support for the embattled Eastern European country comes as Russian forces have made slow and steady gains on the battlefield and have pummeled Ukrainian cities in a series of missile and air strikes. 

NATO convened a special virtual meeting of defence ministers on Friday, where they committed to helping Ukraine tighten up its air defences.

"NATO has mapped out existing capabilities across the alliance and there are systems that can be made available to Ukraine," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

It's those existing capabilities and inventory, coupled with air defence, that Ustinova was interested in as she met with Canadian officials and toured Camp Petawawa,  a major military base near Ottawa, earlier this week.

In particular, she was interested in Canada's stock of new and retired armoured vehicles. She said she doesn't buy the argument that old, broken-down light armoured vehicles are not fit for donation.

"Ukrainians are ready to take even junk, tear it apart and make one out of three machines. This is something that can protect our soldiers," Ustinova told CBC News.

"There [is] a lot of stuff that can be donated but it's not, for some reason. And I don't understand why because, for example, Canada has a lot of armoured vehicles. Like LAVs that you produce yourself. What is the problem to transfer those to the Ukrainian army?"

According to figures put before the House of Commons last year, the Canadian army has 195 LAV II Bisons and 149 Coyote armoured reconnaissance vehicles that are being taken out of service. The Department of National Defence (DND) also says 67 tracked light armour vehicles (TLAVs) out of a fleet of 140 are awaiting final demilitarization and disposal, or are being used as a source of spare parts for the 73 vehicles still in service.

The Canadian military is slated to take delivery of 621 upgraded LAV III vehicles, which are being converted into LAV VIs.

Ustinova said she finds it hard to understand why Canada can't part with any of those vehicles.