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The Canadian government has pulled the plug on providing Ukraine with satellite imagery to track Russian and rebel forces after the process of transferring the data became tangled up in red tape.

The Conservative government announced in February 2015 Canada would give Ukraine imagery from the high-tech Radarsat-2 satellite to boost security in its showdown with Russia and separatist forces.

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But documents obtained by Postmedia show the process of providing imagery was plagued by numerous approval processes in Ottawa and restrictions on the type of information that could be provided. For such data to be of strategic value to Ukraine, it would have to be quickly transmitted to military personnel there, defence analysts have said.

But the documents obtained through the Access to Information law noted “robust licensing restrictions outlining limitations and eligible parameters for the imagery” were put in place.