The approximately 80 troops who took off from Edmonton and another 20 from Trenton, OD, will provide humanitarian assistance to reception centers across Poland, said Major Ryan Pridmore, battalion commander with the Prince of Canada Lightweight Princess.
Together with a Canadian medical unit, they are going to support the Polish Territorial Defense Force in a two-month mission.
“Our soldiers are all extremely happy to be growing,” he said.  “That’s why we were trained. That’s why we’re doing this job. Our soldiers are ready to go in there and start helping to make a difference.”
Once the boots are on the ground, Pridmore said, he expects the soldiers to get straight to work.
“We have priests providing spiritual guidance and some mental health professionals when refugees arrive at reception centers,” said Pridmore, who has previously served in Afghanistan and Kuwait.
Some of the other soldiers have a background in linguistics, he added.
He said Canada was ready to send about 50 more troops to help care for, coordinate and resettle Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
“We have a team there that sets the scene, so we are not blind, but it will definitely be a very quick start as soon as we get to the ground.”
On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told Calgary that Russia’s occupation should be declared a genocide, as US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trinto have said, given that thousands of Ukrainians have been killed and wounded.
Freeland pointed to a “creepy document” on a Russian website published 10 days ago “which essentially drew up a plan for genocide in Ukraine, which demanded the suffering, the punishment of the people who, in the view of this document, were wrong and wrong. describe themselves as Ukrainian “.
“This required the word Ukraine to be deleted,” said Freeland, who also serves as Canada’s finance minister.
The Ministry of National Defense said in a press release that the soldiers would also work with Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada and “act as a liaison with the Polish Armed Forces … to support temporary accommodation for Ukrainians wishing to work and to Study in Canada |  “
On Friday, some soldiers in Edmonton joked about their nerves, while others slept in the airport lounge before boarding their flight.
“I have been to many missions in the past, where I have seen people coming out the door, and this is close to home for many people, because some people in the task force have Ukrainian heritage,” said the lieutenant.  Kevin Moffat, Public Affairs Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces.
“I was very happy to see that the morale was extremely high and, from my observation, I would say that the task force will be very effective in Poland.”
This Canadian Press report was first published on April 15, 2022.
-With files by Bill Graveland.
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This story was created with the financial support of Meta and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.