Ukraine supplements the Defense budget. Military expenses have reached a share of over 60% of the money available to Kiev
Ukrainian soldiers from the 43rd brigade, on the Ceasiv Iar front, preparing to fire a Soviet Pion self-propelled gun. Photo: AA/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia
The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday approved a budget amendment that increases the defense budget by 7.7 billion dollars, as well as the extension until February 2026 of martial law and general mobilization, Reuters and DPA agencies report, quoted by Agepres. Total defense spending in 2025 will approach $71 billion.
The extension of martial law and general mobilization, requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, was approved by the Kyiv parliament with two-thirds of the votes. Martial law and mobilization were initially introduced for 30 days after the Russian invasion launched in February 2022 and have since been regularly extended.
According to martial law, men fit to serve in the army, between the ages of 22 and 60, are prohibited from leaving Ukraine. The ban applied until August this year to those aged between 18 and 22, and its lifting led to an increase in the number of young people who left the country. Those over the age of 25 can be mobilized, therefore some avoid going out of the house in order not to meet the patrols of military recruiters. In the case of those between the ages of 18 and 25, mandatory mobilization was not decreed, but those who volunteer can join the army.
In Ukraine, the first months of the war were marked by a patriotic elan, many volunteers joining the ranks of the Ukrainian army, but then Kiev was forced to rely on compulsory mobilization, an unpopular measure that led to numerous attempts to flee the country, to the corruption of those in charge, to desertions and forced recruitment actions.
Kiev depends on European aid
Regarding financial resources, a large part of the budget is allocated to support the war and Ukraine depends on the help of its allies in this regard. The government in Kiev is now trying to obtain additional funds from European countries to buy military equipment from the US, under the program called PURL – according to the English acronym for “List of Priority Requirements for Ukraine” -, a program through which Ukraine purchases weapons and ammunition from the US paid for by its European allies.
The huge amount Ukraine needs for another year of war. How much a single day of conflict costs
The American Patriot anti-aircraft systems and new missiles for these batteries are a priority for Kiev, Ukrainian Defense Minister Denis Shmihal said on Tuesday, after a meeting with his Spanish counterpart, Margarita Robles, with whom he also discussed the possibility of Spain joining the countries that contribute financially to the PURL initiative.
Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Latvia have already announced such financial commitments amounting to approximately two billion dollars. Also, Belgium, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Iceland and Luxembourg have declared their willingness to contribute to this initiative.
“The government, with the support of its partners, has the resources to provide additional funds for the defenders of Ukraine,” Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhii Marcenko said on Tuesday after the Kyiv parliament approved an increase in the defense budget by 325 billion hryvnias (equivalent to $7.7 billion), bringing the army's budget for the current year to 70.86 billions of dollars.
Part of the new funds will come from a loan agreed by the states of the Group of Seven most developed economies (G7), including the EU, and partially covered by the revenues generated by Russia's assets frozen in the West.
According to the data presented by the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance, in the first nine months of the current year, 63% of Ukraine's budget was intended to finance the army. Since the war with Russia began in February 2022, Ukraine has received aid from its allies amounting to about 152 billion dollars.
