The price of war — how much money Ukraine spent on defense

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, significant funds have been spent from state and local budgets to ensure the country's defense capability. The war is financed from various sources, some of which are not official. Many expenses remain secret due to security considerations, so the exact amounts of expenses remain unknown.

The Page reports on the costs of a full-scale war in Ukraine.

The war budget

Ukraine's military budget is formed by several key components:

•    state budget expenses;
•    local budget expenses;
•    donations from Ukrainians, foreign citizens and businesses.

To this should also be added the cost of hardware, weapons and ammunition provided to Ukraine by international partners.

War expenses from the state budget

It is difficult to allocate the exact amount of war expenses from the state budget, since financing military needs often includes various components. Typically, military spending (including spending in the security and defense sector) includes:

•    cash payments to military personnel and law enforcement officers;
•    purchase of hardware, weapons, ammunition, defense products, personal
protective equipment, fuels and lubricants, and food;
•    medical care and treatment;
•    other expenses necessary for the functioning and support of the activities of relevant state bodies and law enforcement agencies.

These expenses are covered exclusively by tax revenues, since assistance from international partners cannot be directed to these purposes.

In 1996, military spending in the state budget of Ukraine amounted to 1.4 billion UAH (0.82 billion USD at the then exchange rate). In 2023, 1.2 trillion UAH was allocated for defense, and actual spending reached almost two trillion (52 billion USD at the average exchange rate of that year).

The total amount of military spending in 2022-2024 is UAH 5,185 billion, and UAH 2,223 billion has already been budgeted for 2025.

Local budget spending

Local budget spending on defense is mainly directed to the purchase of drones, cars and other equipment for transfer to the Armed Forces. According to the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, in 2023, only the regional centers of Ukraine spent UAH 19.5 billion to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with about 40% of this amount allocated from the Kyiv budget.

As of the end of October 2024, Kyiv had allocated UAH 8.6 billion to assist the military, which is UAH 1.1 billion more compared to 2023 (UAH 7.5 billion). About 12 thousand UAVs of various types were sent to the front line from the capital's community, as well as more than 100 new cars, electronic warfare systems, communications and other important equipment.

What else you need to know

It should be recalled that in May 2024, the head of the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, Danylo Hetmantsev, named the amount that Ukraine spends on the war. It is about 2 trillion hryvnias per year.

We also wrote that, according to The Washington Post, Russia can afford to finance the war against Ukraine for several more years. The aggressor state has such an ability thanks to its huge revenues from oil sales and the failures of the Western sanctions policy.