Ukraine Receives from Canada 3rd Plane of Military Supplies

A third plane carrying non-lethal military supplies had arrived in Ukraine from Canada.

"Yesterday, Canadian Air Forces' plane arrived in Borispol airport and delivered the next [third] part of the cargo, in particular, helmets and bulletproof vests for the use of Ukraine's border guard subdivisions," Andriy Lysenko from Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council said at a briefing.

A release on the Department of National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces' Web site said the "non-lethal" supplies are intended to help Ukraine's military secure their eastern border.

Canada's contribution of a range of targeted protection, medical and logistical equipment, such as helmets, ballistic eyewear, protective vests, first aid kits, tents and sleeping bags amounts to almost $5 million.

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Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Ukraine needs all the assistance it can get.

"This 19th-century imperial behaviour (by Russia) is absolutely unacceptable to Canada," Baird said over the weekend.

Canadian Defence Minister Rob Nicholson said "logistic equipment" will enable Ukrainian troops to better detect and track the movement of illicit goods and people trying to get into the border.

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"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin's failure to end his support to armed rebel groups constitutes a real threat to international peace and security," Nicholson said. "The Putin regime has not provided any indication they are prepared to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity or use their control over Russian-backed agents to end the violence in Ukraine."

Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March. Violence has yet to stop between government forces and pro-Russia rebels.

Tensions further escalated when surface-to-air missiles, which the West strongly believed were provided to the insurgents by Russia, downed Malaysia Airlines MH17 on July 17, instantly killing all 298 people on board.

Canada obliged to Ukraine's request for military equipment after NATO reported a continuing presence of Russian troops in the border.

Read: War Tactics: Russia Dispatches Aid Convoy into Ukraine