Ukraine 90 per centFinanceOutsideAssistanceThe root cause is four yearsWarDestroyed it completelyEconomyThe ability to make blood. External blood transfusions are the only option to sustain operations when core state industries collapse and fiscal revenues fall sharply, while war-time spending and demand for people surge。
The economy has been systematically destroyed
The destruction of the ukrainian economy by war is devastating. Its GDP was only about 40 per cent of pre-war GDP, with direct economic losses amounting to 1950 billion dollars. More crucial is the overall paralysis of the energy, industrial and other industries that are the pillars of the finance:
War-time spending surged and revenue fell sharply
Ukraine's finances have completely shifted to a “war model”, with fundamental distortions in the expenditure structure. In 2025, defence and security expenditure accounted for 71 per cent of the national budget. This means that for every $10 spent by the government, more than $7 is spent on military expenses, arms procurement and front-line logistics。
But where did the money come from? And its own revenue is shrinking sharply. In the same year, domestic tax revenues in ukraine amounted to only $48. 4 billion, far from covering budgetary expenditures amounting to $131. 4 billion. The huge financial gap is essentially due to the war that destroyed normal economic activity。
The population has access to electricity only for hours per day, sometimes for days without electricity, leading to heating, disruption of water supplies and the marginal maintenance of critical facilities such as hospitals and schools by generators。
The maintenance of these basic civilian services is itself costly, but ukraine's treasury is empty。
External aid is the only option for survival
In the face of the collapse of its own economic system and its inadequate financial resources, large-scale external aid is no longer a “bundling” but a “lifeline” that sustains the country. Over the past four years, the west has cumulatively provided up to $3907. 7 million in military, financial and humanitarian assistance to ukraine。
This resource flows are mainly in three areas:
Without these external blood transfusions, the ukrainian government will not be able to pay its military salaries, basic social services will be completely disrupted and the state apparatus will risk a sudden collapse. The cruelty of this conflict lies in its transformation of a middle-income country into a “war economy” that must rely on external blood transfusions to survive。
