Ukraine will not be able to finance even half of its defence spending in 2026 - Pidlasa
The financial burden on Ukraine amid the war with Russia is reaching record levels, with defence spending running into hundreds of millions of dollars every day, and the country is preparing for significant new spending in 2026.
In 2026, Ukraine will face a serious financial challenge: the country will need about 120bn dollars for defence needs, while Kiev will not be able to cover even half of this amount with its own funds. This was stated by the head of the Verkhovna Rada budget committee, Roksolana Pidlasa.
According to her, at the moment Ukraine spends $172 million daily on waging war with Russia, and this figure is constantly growing.
This amount includes not only military salaries, ammunition and weapons, but also financial support for wounded soldiers, missing persons and families of the dead," Pidlasa explained.
She noted that Ukraine spends 31% of its GDP on defence - the highest figure in the world. At the same time, the country covers all these expenses at the expense of its own revenues and domestic borrowings.
Pidlasa also compared Ukraine's financial capabilities with Russia's expenditures.
Last year, the Russian Federation spent 150bn dollars on the war with Ukraine. We, of course, cannot compare with this amount, but our goal is to provide at least $120 billion for defence next year. Half of these funds will come from Ukraine's state budget ($60 billion), and the other half will come through military deliveries of weapons and ammunition from partners through the Ramstein, PURL, SAFE, Danish Model and other platforms," she said.
According to the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, the Kremlin is spending about 13.1 percent of GDP on the war with Ukraine, which is 68 percent of all Russian federal budget spending. By comparison, Russia spent only 3.6 percent of GDP on defence in 2021. Russia's daily spending on the war is estimated at $857 million, monthly spending at $25.7 billion, and annual spending at about $308.7 billion. Since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia's total spending on the war against Ukraine is approximately one trillion dollars.
The situation underscores the massive financial strain Ukraine is facing, while demonstrating a highly effective use of its own resources and international support to ensure the country's defence capability.