Ukraine has not given up. And, in reality, the nation is ready to continue defending itself. She will do it, first of all, with a new massive purchase of weapons. To do this, the country’s Department of Defense has confirmed that, in 2024, it has a budget of 6 billion dollars that they will use to acquire all the necessary weapons.
When we talk about Ukraine and the desperate situation they are experiencing to obtain weapons, we sometimes imagine a nation that has no budget for anything. But, in reality, we should not downplay the relevance of the organization of the country and how they are moving to achieve what they need. Because they are aware that, only with the help that comes from their allies, it will not be enough if they want to continue resisting.
A much higher total budget
The information that has reached the press has done so through the words of Oleksandr Kamyshin, who is the country’s Minister of Strategic Industries, whom you can see in the photo below. In statements that are sometimes left aside or that are not usually aired as much as one might imagine, the Minister has confirmed that Ukraine’s total defense budget is valued this year in 2024 at a total of 40 billion dollars. .
But he emphasizes that only a part, small to a certain extent, will be used to buy weapons. The reason for this is that $30 billion will be used for payments and salaries for military personnel who risk their lives to defend their country. To this we must add 10 billion necessary to pay for uniforms, materials and fuel, all of which is vital in terms of maintaining the vehicles they use for their operations and defense. Finally, he comments that there are an additional 6 billion that are used to purchase weapons. And that is where the country’s need to reinforce its arsenals comes in by purchasing the weapons that can best serve them in the field of combat.
Problems to face
As the Minister mentions, they are facing a delicate situation, since with 6 billion dollars they do not have, even remotely, to compensate for all the weapons that are being manufactured inside Ukraine. They mention that their factories have three times more production capacity than the weapons that the country will pay to its suppliers. Therefore, they are concerned. They say, at the same time, that those $6 billion will be used mainly to buy weapons from Ukrainian factories, so it does not seem that they take into account the possibility of buying abroad. The only exceptions, possibly, are very specific weapons that you absolutely need and that your allies are not already sending you.
One of the alternative solutions that Ukraine is opting for is to talk to its allied partners so that they are the ones who pay for the weapons to the factories in their country and thus help them in a simpler way. In theory, it is a coherent idea considering that the respective countries that are going to help would not have to deal with the logistics of shipping the weapons, since it would already be within the country. Nor should it be ruled out that some allied nation is interested in Ukrainian weapons as a way to fuel their own arsenals.
Regarding the type of purchase they are going to make with those 6 billion dollars, Kamyshin says that what they need most are armed vehicles of all types. However, he also highlights the importance of acquiring unmanned vehicles, such as drones that are capable of combating in all areas, because right now neither the sea, land nor air are covered. After all, they know well that a large part of the current war is fought with drones whose attack capacity is surprising all experts.
Along with this, they are interested in strengthening their artillery systems, especially now that they have found that Russia is increasing the bombardments that are more difficult to block. The purchases of this weaponry may not be delayed too much, since all the reports from Ukraine confirm the need for reinforcements as soon as possible.
