Key Takeaways:
- Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland stated Canada is dedicated to obtaining justice for Ukrainian women and children as reports of sexual abuse by Russian forces mount.
- Even Finance Minister Freeland stated that she called Ukraine’s foreign minister on Thursday to offer Canada’s support.
- Up to 150 Canadian troops will be deployed to Poland to help with Ukrainian refugees’ care, coordination, and placement.
As claims of sexual violence by Russian soldiers rise, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada is committed to achieving justice for Ukrainian women and children.
Freeland was questioned on Thursday on the alleged war crimes committed by Russia against Ukrainian civilians and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
“In Ukraine, war crimes have been perpetrated and continue to be committed. The evidence we’ve seen in Bucha and other places of Ukraine that Russia has occupied is terrifying, “After a tour of a carbon capture facility in Calgary, Freeland remarked.
“I’d want to emphasize that one of the things that are occurring is the systematic rape of Ukrainian women as well as children.”
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Freeland stated that Canada would cooperate with its democratic friends to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“In this battle, rape is being used as a weapon, and I want the women of Ukraine to know that we see them, that we will not forget them, and that we will work with Ukraine and our democratic partners across the world to bring the culprits to justice.”
Freeland, even the finance minister, said she spoke with Ukraine’s foreign minister on Thursday to express Canada’s support.
She also stated that, as US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have stated, it is appropriate to consider Russia’s occupation a genocide because hundreds of Ukrainians have been slain and brutalized.
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Freeland cited a “chilling text” released 10 days earlier on a Russian website “that effectively lay out a plan for genocide in Ukraine, that asked for the suffering, the punishment of those who chose, in the eyes of this paper, to characterize themselves as Ukrainian incorrectly and inaccurately.”
“As a result, the word Ukraine had to be removed.”
According to Freeland, the Russian occupation is a battle between democracy and dictatorship, and it is in Canada’s best interests to support Ukraine.
“To tell you the truth, we’re incredibly happy that the Ukrainians are willing to fight that war for us and stand there and die in this struggle.”
Up to 150 Canadian troops will deploy to Poland to assist with Ukrainian refugees’ care, coordination, and placement.
Source: CTV News
