KYIV – Zelensky: funding shortfall threatens drone procurement

KYIV, 25 September /ATSH-DPA/ – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that a shortfall of more than €23 billion in Ukraine’s budget is threatening the financing of drone purchases, which are crucial to the war against Russia.

“If we don’t order and pay for them in October and November, we will have serious problems in January and February,” Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv today.

According to him, just over a third of the amount missing from the budget relates to the purchase of drones for the first three months of 2027.

Zelensky urged the European Commission to speed up the transfer of the next tranches of a €90 billion loan made available to Ukraine in April.

Ukraine has been fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion since February 2022 and relies financially and militarily on Western countries.

Long-range drones are used by the Ukrainian military to repeatedly strike, in particular, facilities of the Russian oil industry, with the aim of making it harder for Russia to finance the war.

Source: ATSH-DPA