MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak earlier estimated the budget shortfall at around $10-12 billion
Ukraine does not have enough money to fund its military and will have to overhaul this year’s budget in order to close the gap, Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko has admitted. 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.
