Withdrawal of UAH 40 billion from the budget of the Ministry of Defense: Eurosolidarity explained the consequences of such a decision

The authorities spent funds from the Reserve Fund for 2026 during the first quarter, and now have decided to get into the pocket of the defense budget, withdrawing UAH 40 billion from it.

This was stated by Eurosolidarity deputies at a briefing after the scandalous vote on amendments to the State Budget-26. At the same time, the deputies emphasize, the funds from the Reserve Fund were spent not on reconstruction needs, but on cashback and other populist initiatives.

“242 people’s deputies voted for such changes to the budget. These are 189 “servants”, the shortcomings of the public service. They all voted together to take 40 billion hryvnias from the “Armament Procurement” article and transfer them to the Reserve Fund,” Eurosolidarity co-chair Iryna Gerashchenko was indignant.

“The budget that was voted on today does not provide for an increase in military support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But there is an increase in preferential pensions. These are prosecutors, judges, all those who are definitely not in the trenches right now. And yesterday the authorities indexed the salaries of military personnel for 5 years in the trenches by UAH 132,” Gerashchenko states.

“I want to remind you how, a few months before the full-scale invasion, Eurosolidarity warned and called for preparation. We demanded that the authorities urgently allocate UAH 50 billion for financing the Armed Forces, purchasing weapons, and urgently strengthening our security and defense sector. The Servants of the People laughed then: “What if Putin attacks?” – recalled the faction’s co-chair Artur Gerasimov.

“How can you remove 40 billion UAH from the “weapons purchase” line and transfer them to cashback and roads? Doesn’t this remind you of anything? In 22, money was not spent on the Armed Forces, money was spent on roads. What did this lead to? I think everyone felt it,” says Gerasimov.

People’s Deputy Sofia Fedyna noted that the authorities, against the backdrop of Mindichgate, generously promised to increase the financial support for the military. Instead, now their salaries are indexed to a ridiculous amount. The authorities’ promise to adopt a law on service terms is also not being fulfilled. “One of the ways out is not to keep silent about journalists and civil society. Because this is a matter of the survival of the state,” Fedyna emphasizes.

The government’s statements that the defense budget was allegedly increased by one and a half trillion hryvnias today are a manipulation, Volodymyr Ar’yev emphasized. Because in reality, funds from European partners were already provided for in the 2026 budget, and today the Ministry of Defense has actually withdrawn 40 billion hryvnias.

“Where will these 40 billion go? To the Reserve Fund. In the same bill, amendments allocated 1.5 billion UAH from the Reserve Fund to the judicial administration. 1.3 billion to the Ministry of Energy, of which 500 million UAH will go to increase salaries for officials. At the same time, the government, this government, has zero money to increase salaries for the military,” Ar’yev states.

Maria Ionova noted that the parliament’s leadership begins each session of the Verkhovna Rada with a moment of silence for the dead, while cynically pushing through lobbying laws: “They hold their hand to their heart at each session. But in one hand is “vovina thousand”, “e-bachok”, in the other is cashback and “tysyachevesna”. And so they will fight and defend the state, our sky from missiles,” the deputy was indignant.

“But we still want to give the authorities a chance to correct this mistake in order to return 40 billion to the Armed Forces. The Minister of Defense already recognizes the hole in the budget. That is, by the end of the year the Verkhovna Rada will have to review the budget of the Ministry of Defense. Tell me, where is the logic here? This is the Ministry of Defense, and there are already problems with financing there. How can 40 billion be taken from it? Zero logic. Zero responsibility,” Iryna Gerashchenko summarizes.