By Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) – Canada on Monday said it will contribute C$15 million ($11.04 million) for equipment needed by Ukraine for humanitarian clearing of landmines.
The assistance will help fund detection and clearance of landmines, unexploded explosive ordnance and other explosive remnants of war.
Canada is providing bomb suits to help protect Ukrainian de-miners, along with funding for advanced remote-control de-mining systems to clear large areas like farmland, the Canadian government said in a statement.
In August, the U.S. State Department approved $89 million worth of assistance to help Ukraine equip and train 100 teams to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance for a year. A U.S. official had compared Ukraine’s challenge to attempts to disarm unexploded ordnance in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos following the American war of the 1960s and 70s in Southeast Asia.
Canada, the United States and other Western allies have provided other forms of financial, intelligence and military assistance to Ukraine to deal with Russia’s invasion while imposing multiple sanctions on Moscow.
Ukraine on Monday warned there would be emergency blackouts once again in several regions as it repaired damage from missile attacks it said destroyed homes and knocked out power, while Moscow accused Kyiv of attacking deep inside Russia with drones.
($1 = 1.3587 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
