Canadian Press
April 20, 2022

Canada will send heavy artillery to Ukraine, Trudeau pledges

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed plans Tuesday to send heavy artillery to embattled Ukraine….

Trudeau mentioned the plan to provide artillery…during a news conference in Dalhousie, N.B., saying the decision followed a specific request to Canada from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government.

“Their most recent request (for assistance) from Canada is to help them with heavy artillery because that’s what the phase of the war is in right now,” Trudeau said. “And Canada will be sending heavy artillery to Ukraine with more details to come in the coming weeks.”

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The Liberal government has previously dipped into the Canadian Armed Forces inventory to provide lethal aid to the Ukrainian military….

But Defence Minister Anita Anand has suggested the military’s spare inventory is tapped out, and that the government – which set aside $500 million in military assistance for Ukraine in its latest budget – planned to buy equipment from vendors.

The Canadian Army’s main artillery gun is the M777 howitzer, firing 155-millimetre shells, more than 30 of which were acquired from the United States starting in 2005.