How Canada helped Ukraine learn to stop fighting wars the Soviet way

For months after Moscow launched its full invasion a year ago, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resorted to a standard message whenever it was accused of going too slowly, or doing too little, in its efforts to help Ukraine.

Did we ever tell you Canada trained over 33,000 Ukrainian soldiers?

That message served as both talking point and deflection. It was bolted onto almost every speech and media response line in Ottawa during those early months, as the world was riveted by the dramatic stand Ukrainian soldiers made outside the capital Kyiv and in Kharkiv, the country's second largest city.

CBC News has been on the ground covering Russia's invasion of Ukraine from the start. What do you want to know about their experience there? Send an email to ask@cbc.ca. Our reporters will be taking your questions as the one-year anniversary approaches.

At the time, many world leaders and seasoned military, defence and geopolitical observers were expecting Ukraine's defence to collapse swiftly in the face of Russia's vastly superior manpower, firepower and airpower. The experts were subsequently caught off-guard by the determination and professionalism of Ukraine's military, and by its early victories against a brutal antagonist.

There are many reasons explaining Ukraine's survival. They start with the palpable rage that has united Ukrainians — a visceral anger that only grows with each new atrocity, each indiscriminate missile attack taking innocent lives.

The Russian Army itself is another reason. With their ill-prepared soldiers, uncoordinated units, snarled logistics and a habit of combining over-confidence with a lack of competence, Russian Army commanders have bungled their war to a degree that has been as astonishing as the Ukrainians' performance has been inspiring.

But most military commanders will tell you that wars are won and lost on the training grounds — in the mindset instilled in soldiers by that training.

Which is where Canada and its allies came in.

CBC News wanted to know how much of a difference Canada's much-hyped military training mission made to Ukraine's ability to survive over the last year. We spoke to both Ukrainian and Canadian soldiers 

For seven years leading up to last year's invasion, hundreds of Canadian soldiers deployed to western Ukraine to train an already battle-tested army that was holding back Russian-backed proxy forces in the eastern Donbas region.

The trainees were put through advanced courses in just about all aspects of combat, from marksmanship and checking for booby-trapped vehicles to battlefield medical treatment and evacuation.

Canadian Brig.-Gen. Tim Arsenault commanded one of the early rotations of trainers. He vividly remembers the sobering experience of watching the first Ukrainian troops arrive directly from the eastern front at the training centre in Yavoriv, near the Polish border.

"What will stick with me the most is just watching that first battalion come in from the Donbas, and seeing the state of the soldiers, who were very tired," said Arsenault.