Interior Ministry hopes to re-launch Canadian Police Mission in Ukraine

The Ministry of Internal Affairs said on April 24 that it had discussed with representatives of the Royal Canadian Mountain Police the possibility of restoring the Canadian Police Mission to Ukraine.

Deputy Interior Minister Kateryna Pavlichenko said that the Ukrainian police need to be reinforced by training.

"At this point, we would identify three key areas that should be taken into account when preparing the relevant training plans. In particular, these are tactical training, police work in the de-occupied territories, and mental health support," Pavlichenko was quoted as saying.

Canadian police first began deploying in short-term train-the-trainer roles in July 2015. Longer-term deployments focusing on training and community policing began in June 2016.

Canadian police officers were deployed to enhance police training in the investigation of and response to gender-based violence, implement community policing models and improve internal accountability and oversight mechanisms. The mission was suspended last year following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

According to the Interior Ministry's report, representatives of the Canadian police hope to start training for Ukrainian law enforcement "as soon as possible." They plan to involve about 45 instructors.

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