Koretskyi warns of toughest winter since independence: Ukraine needs funding and air defense
Ukraine will face major cuts to its defense budget unless lawmakers adopt unpopular measures needed to unlock billions of dollars in Western aid ahead of winter.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said this in an interview with Bloomberg, Censor.NET reports.
Delay in EU aid
A months-long deadlock in parliament has already delayed about $4 billion in European Union aid that was due to arrive in the third quarter, the report says. In a separate Telegram statement on Monday, Koretskyi described the state of Ukraine’s public finances as "close to critical."
The risk of a financial shortfall has become the first major test for Koretskyi, a former energy-sector executive whom President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed two months ago to prepare the country for what could be its toughest winter since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Lawmakers’ resistance to reforms
Lawmakers’ reluctance to support reforms demanded by the EU and the International Monetary Fund, Ukraine’s two largest donors, comes as Kyiv acknowledges a further $27 billion shortfall in this year’s defense budget due to the rising cost of the war.
"I see this as a failure to understand the scale of the problem," Koretskyi said in Kyiv in his first interview with international media since taking office. "This budget is not elastic. So I want to say in advance: no. You need to vote. We need to move forward."
At the same time, Koretskyi urged international partners to reduce uncertainty over funding by making medium- and long-term financial commitments to Ukraine. Zelenskyy separately called on the EU to accelerate some disbursements from the bloc’s EUR 90 billion loan scheduled for next year because of growing budgetary difficulties.
Why the war is becoming more expensive
Koretskyi said Ukraine now often has to use expensive missiles to shoot down more advanced Russian jet-powered Shahed drones—one reason why the cost of a war now in its fifth year continues to grow.
"If an interceptor once cost tens of thousands, it now costs hundreds of thousands, perhaps as much as a million," he said.
Preparing for winter
- Kyiv’s foreign donors demand measures to reduce the shadow economy, increase tax revenues, and bring the country’s legislation in line with EU standards.
- Ukraine is preparing for what, Koretskyi warns, could become its toughest winter since independence in 1991. Air defenses are becoming less effective against increasingly advanced Russian drones, which have added a new level of fear to daily life. At the same time, the country urgently needs interceptors to counter ballistic missiles and asks its allies for additional aid every day.
"This is pure terror. Russia cannot achieve any significant success on the battlefield, and therefore it has resorted—and continues to resort—to extreme forms of terror, attacking businesses, civilian infrastructure, and people," the prime minister said.
Koretskyi noted that Ukraine is better prepared for the coming winter thanks to strengthened physical protection and government efforts, but urged families to do their part, including by making greater use of state support programs offering relatively inexpensive loans.
Koretskyi’s government plans to significantly increase the number of "Points of Invincibility," mobile aid centers, and repair crews across the country. The plan also involves bringing in foreign emergency response specialists to help restore damaged infrastructure.
"Each of our partners could send specialized machinery, equipment, and personnel here to help restore and restart damaged facilities as quickly as possible or respond to these attacks," Koretskyi said.
Bloomberg adds that this winter will be a "litmus test" for both the newcomer prime minister and his team. Asked about the government’s main goal, he replied briefly: "To endure."
