Ukraine's government directs extra UAH 60bn to defence, mostly for military pay

Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has allocated an additional UAH 60 billion for the needs of the Defence Forces, the Defence Ministry said on its official Telegram channel on 13 October 2026. Most of the money is earmarked for military pay.

According to the ministry, UAH 43.5 billion will go to payments to service members and support for their families. A further UAH 16.6 billion is intended for ammunition, drones, electronic-warfare (EW) and communications equipment, and for the repair and modernisation of military equipment.

"We are ensuring timely payments and stable funding for units performing combat tasks," the ministry said.

What the announcement does not say

The ministry's statement is brief, and several details are missing:

• Source of the money. It did not say whether the funds come from reallocations within the state budget, from reserves, or from external financing. It also did not say which budget lines are affected.
• The arithmetic. The two itemised amounts, UAH 43.5 billion and UAH 16.6 billion, add up to UAH 60.1 billion, slightly above the headline figure of UAH 60 billion. The ministry did not explain the difference. It may be rounding, but that is not confirmed.
• Legal form. The statement does not give the number or title of the Cabinet decision, and it does not say how quickly the funds will be disbursed.

RealUA could not independently verify the figures, which come from a single official source.

Wider budget context

The allocation comes amid public discussion of how tight Ukraine's finances are. RealUA reported that Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko said UAH 46 billion of payments were pending on the single treasury account under a "tough economy" regime, affecting items such as road and housing repairs, school buses and winter-preparation funds. The sources do not say whether the new defence allocation is connected to that situation.

Parliament is also considering new ways to channel money to defence. On 13 October the Verkhovna Rada approved in first reading bill No. 15400, which would direct export-control permit fees for military and dual-use goods to the Defence Ministry, split between weapons and soldiers' pay. A first reading is only the initial stage, and the bill has not yet become law. There is no indication in the available sources that the Cabinet's allocation relies on it.

External support has also featured in recent days. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on 11 October that a €1.24 billion EU defence tranche had arrived and that about €3 billion more in military support was to be allocated the following week. Whether any of that money is linked to the Cabinet's decision has not been stated.

What to watch

The key open questions are the funding source and the budget lines affected, which would show whether the allocation is new money or a redistribution. Publication of the Cabinet resolution or comment from the Finance Ministry could clarify this.