Historic First: Frozen Russian Assets to Fund Ukraine Military Needs

The Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine) has approved amendments to the 2025 budget, allocating UAH 325 billion to the national security and defense sector.

The Gaze reports on it, referring to a message from Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko on Telegram.

Bill No. 14103 provides for an increase in defense spending by UAH 324.7 billion. 

The largest amounts are allocated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAH 210.9 billion), the production and purchase of weapons and ammunition for the Armed Forces (UAH 99.1 billion), as well as the National Guard, the purchase of drones, the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service, the State Border Service, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, and the Foreign Intelligence Service.

Funding will come from several sources: UAH 294.3 billion in international aid, including EUR 6 billion in non-repayable ERA loans; UAH 10.4 billion in reductions in non-military spending and proposals from individual government agencies, and UAH 20 billion – expected increase in revenues from personal income tax and military tax.

For the first time, a significant portion of the funds, UAH 292 billion (EUR 6 billion), will be obtained from frozen Russian assets and directed directly to defense needs, which is a new procedure in the use of such resources. 

The bill was supported by 297 members of parliament. It is expected that these funds will be transferred to the military on November 1–2.

As The Gaze informed earlier, European Commission leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Kaja Kallas emphasized that providing Ukraine with a “reparations loan” based on frozen Russian assets is a sensitive but legally viable measure, currently under discussion among EU member states.