The Canadian minister of national defence Anita Anand clarified that the new package of military aid to Ukraine, which includes 200 Roshel Senator armored personnel carriers, is a response to a specific request from the Ukrainian side for these vehicles. Anand met with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Reznikov and confirmed that Canada will continue to support Ukraine and provide it with “the defense capabilities that it needs to fight and win.” This aid is valued at over $90 million and is allocated as part of the additional $500 million in military aid for Ukraine announced by Prime Minister Trudeau in November 2022. She also discussed the upcoming meeting in the Ramstein format of Ukraine’s military allies, which will take place on January 20.
Canada has provided additional $500 million in military aid to Ukraine announced by prime minister Justin Trudeau in November 2022. This is part of the over $1 billion in military assistance that Canada has committed since February 2022, and over $5 billion that the country has committed in combined military, financial, humanitarian, and other aid. Canada has provided military aid to Ukraine, including NASAMS air defense systems, 39 combat infantry fighting vehicles, anti-tank weapons, M777 howitzers, ammunition and more. Also, Canadian Armed Forces personnel train Ukrainian servicemen in the United Kingdom and Poland as part of the UNIFIER mission, which has been in effect since 2015.
The Canadian automotive manufacturer Roshel has reportedly supplied over a hundred units of Senator APC armoured personnel carriers to Ukrainian Armed Forces and Chernihiv border guards. The delivery was part of Ottawa’s military aid to Ukraine; with the support of patrons from Eastern Europe. Roshel is one of the largest manufacturers of smart armored vehicles for commercial and government organizations in North America. When war broke out, Shimonov, whose wife is from Ukraine, quickly realized there was an opportunity to help Ukrainians. And hiring newcomers from that country was his secret weapon. At least 30 Ukrainian newcomers to Canada helping a little-known local manufacturer make Senator APC armoured personnel carriers for the war effort in their homeland.
Roshel had been selling the Senator mostly to security and law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and other western allies. The vehicle was used to transport NASA astronauts to a SpaceX launch to the International Space Station in May 2020. On the heels of Canada’s announcement of eight Roshel Senators to Ukraine in April, Lloyd Austin, the U.S. Secretary of Defense lauded Canada’s Defence Minister Anita Anand during a news conference at the Pentagon. Roshel’s efficiency and customer base with more than 92 per cent of these Canadian-made vehicles in Ukraine have been purchased by other nations that is making it a bit of a disruptor in the industry. JAnd after producing more than 200 Senators this year, it is planning to churn out at least 1,000 in 2023.
