Ukraine has gone over budget for its military
The shortfall stems from changes in the amount of Western aid and the evolving situation on the battlefield, he added.
Addressing legislators on Thursday, Marchenko said, as cited by Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak, that the 'funding for the Armed Forces is currently not sufficient due to many factors, so we will proceed with a budget revision in the near future.'
Marchenko said the reasons included changes in military technology, adjustments in arms deliveries from Kiev's suppliers, and heightened battlefield activity. He also acknowledged that the government had failed to anticipate the conditions Ukraine would face in 2025 when it was drafting the budget late last year.
'You cannot forecast this situation linearly. Sometimes the situation requires rather complex, asymmetric decisions,' the minister explained.
In mid-May, Zhelezniak estimated the military budget shortfall at 200 billion hryvnia ($4.8 billion), but later raised his assessment to between 400 and 500 billion hryvnia ($9.6-12 billion).
In April, Ukrainian outlet Ekonomicheskaya Pravda reported that funds originally allocated for military salaries in the final months of 2025 had already been spent to purchase drones, ammunition, and other weapons.
Ukraine already had to contend with a budget deficit in 2023 and 2024, but managed to bridge the gap by raising taxes. According to Zhelezniak, however, this time such measures won't be required as the government intends to cover the gap through increased domestic borrowing and higher-than-expected tax revenues.
Kiev continues to rely heavily on Western aid and loans – which officials say Ukraine won't be able to repay in the next 30 years – to compensate for the economic slump caused by the conflict. As of February 2025, European nations have provided Ukraine with $138 billion of assistance of various types, while the US has given $115 billion.
In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine would not be able not survive for more than 'a week' if its Western military and financial aid dried up.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
8 hours ago
- Russia Today
Four Russian civilians injured in latest Ukrainian drone raid
Dozens of Ukrainian drones attacked multiple Russian regions overnight, injuring at least four civilians and igniting fires in residential areas, local officials have reported. Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev has said that approximately 15 drones targeted his region, with air defenses shooting down multiple UAVs over the city and three nearby districts. One private home was completely destroyed, while several others have suffered damage to their walls, windows, and roofs. A fire also damaged an auto shop and a shed in the suburbs. According to Gusev, two women have been hospitalized, while another received on-site medical assistance, and a man from the outskirts of the city has been admitted to a hospital with burns. In Sochi, a Ukrainian drone struck a fuel tank at an oil storage facility in Adler district, causing a large fire visible across the city. Local authorities have confirmed that emergency crews were dispatched to combat the blaze, which also affected nearby garages. The airport in Sochi has temporarily suspended operations due to the threat of additional UAV activity. Drone strikes have also been reported in other parts of Krasnodar Krai and in Bryansk Region, where local air defenses have downed several drones. No casualties have been reported in those areas. Tatarstan, Samara, and Ivanovo regions have declared a heightened alert status due to potential drone threats, activating emergency protocols and warning residents to take shelter. Four civilians were killed in a separate wave of Ukrainian drone attacks on Friday night. According to regional officials, fatalities were recorded in Penza, Samara, and Zaporozhye regions, where drone strikes damaged industrial and residential infrastructure. Russia's Defense Ministry said that a total of 112 Ukrainian drones were intercepted across Russian territory overnight. Most of the UAVs were reportedly neutralized over Rostov and Krasnodar regions. Ukraine has been carrying out drone attacks deep into Russia for months, frequently striking residential buildings and critical infrastructure. In retaliation, Moscow has been using high-precision weapons to attack Ukraine's military-related targets, while insisting the strikes are never aimed at civilians.
Russia Today
19 hours ago
- Russia Today
Witkoff to visit Moscow on Sunday
US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will visit Moscow on Sunday to try for a breakthrough in negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict, according to US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker. Trump has also announced that Witkoff will travel to Russia, although he gave no specific timeline. The special envoy has previously met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on several occasions during past diplomatic TO FOLLOW
Russia Today
a day ago
- Russia Today
‘No defense against' Russia's Oreshnik missile – ex-Pentagon analyst
Neither Ukraine nor its Western backers have any means to counter Russia's newly deployed intermediate-range Oreshnik missile, Michael Maloof, a former senior Pentagon security analyst, told RT in an interview on Friday. Maloof noted that the Oreshnik could 'easily shift the balance of power overwhelmingly in favor' of Russia in any conflict, including the ongoing hostilities with Ukraine. 'Having a hypersonic [missile] for which there's no defense currently… is astonishing. It absolutely alters that balance of power dramatically, for which the Ukrainians have no defense,' he said. He noted that while the US is working to adapt missile defense systems such as THAAD to counter hypersonic threats, these programs remain under development. 'There's no operational ability at this point to deal with a hypersonic missile,' Maloof said, adding that the Oreshnik could reach its targets within mere minutes. The former analyst added that the missile also travels at a speed of over 7,000 miles (11,000km) an hour. 'There's no defense against that,' he said. The missile system, Maloof stated, has already been tested successfully in Ukraine in battlefield conditions. He was referring to a strike on Ukraine's Yuzhmash military industrial facility in the city of Dnepr in November 2024. Russian President Vladimir Putin said afterward that the missile's warheads flew at speeds exceeding Mach 10 and could not be intercepted by existing air defenses. The missile could also carry conventional and nuclear payloads and travel up to several thousand kilometers. According to Putin, the Oreshnik strike on Ukraine was a response to the country's decision to use Western-supplied long-range missiles for attacks deep into Russia. On Friday, the Russian president said that the first serially produced Oreshnik missile system had entered service with the armed forces. He also noted that the question of supplying the weapons to Belarus, Russia's key ally, will likely be resolved by the end of the year.
