Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 15/03/2023
While there is speculation about the potential involvement of foreign powers in the relations between Russia and Ukraine for the purpose of pacification, a claim appeared on social networks that foreign powers were preparing the “ground” for this war.
Thus, several Facebook users (1, 2, 3, 4) shared a part of the speech of the President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, in which she said that Canada has been training Ukrainian soldiers since 2015 – which was used to create disinformation.
“Did she just say that Canada has been training Ukrainian soldiers since 2015? This shows how they planned this war since the coup in Ukraine in 2014?” posted one of the Facebook users who shared the EC president’s statement.
What exactly did the President of the EC say?
Von der Leyen met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the beginning of March, after which a press conference was held.
The entire speech of the President of the European Commission can be found on the European Union (EU) website.
“We are both stepping up our support to Ukraine, including our military support. Because Ukrainians have all the necessary grit and spirit, but what they need is weapons. The European Union has already delivered EUR 12 billion worth of military equipment so far. In parallel, we will continue training Ukrainian soldiers, as you are doing. But you have been doing so already since 2015. (…) On the European side, our goal is to train 30,000 troops by the end of the year,” Von der Leyen said.
She welcomed Ottawa’s commitment to continued support for Ukraine, citing Canada’s long-standing efforts to train Ukrainian soldiers.
The training has been carried out for years at the request of the Ukrainian government
The official website of the Government of Canada explains that the training of Ukrainian soldiers has been carried out as part of Operation UNIFIER since 2015, at the request of the Ukrainian government.
“Operation UNIFIER is the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) military training and capacity building mission in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was launched in 2015 at the request of the Ukrainian government, and in 2022, was expanded and extended until March 2025”.
The Canadian Armed Forces have trained more than 300,000 Ukrainian military and security personnel in battlefield tactics and advanced military skills.
“Between September 2015 and February 2022, 33,789 Security Forces of Ukraine (SFU) candidates participated in training held in Ukraine. CAF assisted with the provision of 726 course serials spanning all lines of efforts. This number includes members of the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU). During that time, CAF provided training to 1,951 members of the NGU.”
Ukraine started training its military after 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, and in addition to Canada, the United States of America and Great Britain also played a significant role in that process,. However, this does not mean that those countries were planning a war, as claimed in the Facebook post.
The fact that Russia started the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 of last year makes this claim meaningless, and for that reason, we rate the publication as a manipulation of facts.
The rating “Manipulation of facts” is given to a media report that uses known and accurate facts but interprets them in a misleading way. These reports generally use accurate information to draw incorrect conclusions or claims, thus directing the conclusions of consumers of media content in the wrong direction in relation to the actual meaning of the facts presented.