Ukraine's Ministry of Defense has officially confirmed a significant shortfall in defense funding, which, according to Minister Hennii Humannyi, amounts to $27 billion. The head of the ministry told journalists this during a public speech in front of a backdrop bearing the logo of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, RBC-Ukraine reports. Humannyi emphasized that the ministry already has worked-out options for resolving the problem and that this is not about finding funds "from scratch," but about restructuring the timelines and sources of already-agreed financial support.

Accelerating the European Loan as the First Lever

The first direction named by the minister is linked to the European loan, the receipt of which was scheduled for next year. According to Humannyi, Kyiv is considering the possibility of receiving this amount ahead of schedule in order to direct it toward current defense needs that cannot wait. Such a mechanism of early financing makes it possible to close part of the "hole" in the budget without attracting new donors and without changing the overall volume of partners' commitments.

Additional Contributions from Partner Countries

The second option is attracting additional financing from partner states. The minister pointed to two categories: countries that have not yet joined the relevant financial support framework for Ukraine, and those that already participate in it but are able to increase their contributions. It is in these directions, he said, that Kyiv intends to focus its negotiation work in the near term.

A Concrete Plan for Using the Funds for Partners

Humannyi noted that during negotiations Ukraine will present to partners not abstract requests for money, but a concrete plan for its use. It will include the tasks facing the Defense Forces, the projects necessary to carry them out, the expected results, and the implementation timelines. This approach, as envisaged by the ministry, should increase transparency and accelerate decision-making on the part of donors.

Contradictory Data

Open sources contain discrepancies in the details. First, in the minister's quote two directions are explicitly named — accelerating the EU loan and additional contributions from partners — whereas in the summaries of a number of publications (including in the "reminder" block of the same article) three coverage options are mentioned, including domestic borrowing. Second, some media outlets (for example, bagnet.org) attribute the statement about the $27 billion shortfall to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whereas in the original RBC-Ukraine material the source of the information is Defense Minister Hennii Humannyi. The size of the shortfall of $27 billion is, however, confirmed by several independent sources.

Thus, the key fact — the existence of a $27 billion shortfall and the presence of worked-out mechanisms in the Ministry of Defense to cover it — is confirmed, while the exact number of directions and the author of the initial statement vary across different publications. For Kyiv, this means that in the coming months the negotiation track with the EU and partner countries will become the main tool for closing the gap in the defense budget.