Canada Pledges C$350 Million Air Defence Package to Ukraine

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a C$350 million (US$254 million) air defence aid package for Ukraine on Thursday, following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The agreement, finalised earlier that day, is intended to supply Kyiv with air defence interceptors as its stock of US-made Patriot missiles runs critically low amid intensified Russian ballistic missile attacks. Speaking to reporters in Calgary, Carney said the equipment package would help protect Ukraine's people, infrastructure and skies, describing Russia's aerial campaign as barbaric and indiscriminate in its targeting of civilian populations. He did not specify which interceptors would be delivered or when shipments would begin. The weapons are to be procured through a US programme that permits third-party nations to rapidly purchase and transfer systems such as Patriot missiles to Ukraine. The announcement comes as Moscow escalates its missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities, including an attack on Kyiv that damaged a residential building.