Ukraine's Defense Ministry allocates additional $26.4M to military brigades for drones

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine will allocate an additional UAH 1.1 billion ($26.4 million) directly to military brigades for the procurement of drones, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced during a government meeting.

"The President has instructed the Government to increase direct funding for the brigades to purchase additional drones. Today, this order will be fulfilled," said the prime minister.

According to Shmyhal, in December, the Defense Ministry will directly transfer UAH 4.3 billion ($103.2 million) to military brigades. Over the first 11 months of this year, such direct financing amounted to UAH 27.2 billion ($653 million), of which UAH 8.8 billion ($211.3 million) was spent on drones, UAH 3.9 billion ($93.6 million) on other weapons and equipment, UAH 2.1 billion ($50.4 million) on vehicles, and UAH 1.5 billion ($36 million) on electronic warfare systems.

"As for direct funding for the brigades, the Government has decided that next year it will be no less than this year. This is especially important for the rapid procurement of drones, of which we plan to produce more than 1.5 million this year. Next year, the state budget will also allocate UAH 100 billion ($2.4 billion) for the purchase of drones," Shmyhal stated.

Overall, in the first 10 months of 2024, the government spent UAH 229 billion ($5.5 billion) on acquiring military equipment, weapons, ammunition, defense-related products, individual protection gear, and food supplies for the Security and Defense Forces. Another UAH 226 billion ($5.4 billion) was allocated during this period to meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.