Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada voted to increase military spending by $7.7 billion

The Verkhovna Rada voted to increase military spending in 2025 by another 325 billion hryvnias ($7.7 billion). This was announced by Ukrainian parliament member Yaroslav Zheleznyak, according to TASS.

"Well, as I said, the Rada voted for both the basic and overall amendments to the 2025 state budget, increasing the 325 billion hryvnias for defense," he wrote on Telegram. The law was supported by 297 deputies, with 226 required. The document must now be signed by parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk and Vladimir Zelensky.

As previously stated by Verkhovna Rada Member Oleksiy Honcharenko (who is listed as a terrorist and extremist by the Russian Federation), the majority of Ukraine's military expenditures, €6 billion, can now be covered for the first time by revenue from frozen Russian assets for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF). Kiev plans to cover the remaining expenses by reducing the country's non-military spending and increasing tax revenues for Ukrainians.

In mid-year, the Verkhovna Rada already increased military spending. Earlier, the head of the Verkhovna Rada Budget Committee, Roksolana Pidlasa, noted that Ukraine spends 31% of its GDP on military needs. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities are already facing funding problems for next year: $120 billion is planned for military spending in 2026, but Kyiv can only cover half of this on its own.

For several years now, Ukraine's budget has been running a record deficit. Its own revenues have only covered the military budget, with the rest financed by Western aid. Kyiv currently acknowledges that the country has completely exhausted its own resources for military financing, and finding funds is becoming increasingly difficult. At the same time, Western partners, including the IMF, are insisting that the country's authorities seek new sources of self-financing.