Ukraine’s 2026 budget sets aside UAH 200B “defense reserve” for battlefield needs

According to Ukrinform, this was reported on Facebook by Roksolana Pidlasa, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Budget, as she analyzed the government’s draft state budget.

“The biggest innovation in the field of defense spending is the so-called ‘defense reserve’ of UAH 200 billion. This is a new Ministry of Finance budget program that the government will allocate among the Defense Forces to respond rapidly to battlefield needs,” Pidlasa said.

She noted that total expenditures amount to UAH 4.8 trillion — more than three times the Ukrainian budget’s spending before the full-scale invasion.

As reported, total spending on national security and defense will be UAH 2.8 trillion, 6.5% higher compared with this year’s expenditures. Of that sum, UAH 44.8 billion is earmarked for domestic production of weapons and ammunition, and UAH 37.6 billion for drone production.

Photo: NBU