
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a $27 billion defense budget deficit could lead to problems with the supply of drones to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the first quarter of 2027 if orders are not made in October and November.
AI-generated summary
Ukraine faces defense budget shortfalls amid the ongoing conflict, affecting its ability to purchase military equipment, including drones.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky complained that due to a defense budget deficit of $27 billion, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will have problems with the supply of drones in the first quarter of 2027. RIA Novosti writes about this with reference to Novosti.LIVE.
“What is important: about a third of these funds, and maybe a little more, are in January, February, March. If we don’t order them [drones] and pay for them in October and November, we will have serious challenges,” he said.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
If orders for drones are not made in October and November 2026, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will face supply problems in the first quarter of 2027.
Likely · Within months

Operators of the FPV interceptor of the 79th motorized rifle regiment of the Sever group destroyed two heavy hexacopters R-18 (Baba Yaga) of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kharkov region in one flight. While covering Russian units in the area of the Volchansky pocket, they destroyed more than 100 air targets of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including reconnaissance and attack drones. One of the operators with the call sign Koster said that in one of the flights, an FPV drone first caught the propellers of the first drone, causing it to fall and detonate on the ground, and then destroyed the second R-18 type drone with a ram.

An incident occurred during a live-fire exercise at the Adazi training ground in Latvia, as a result of which four Italian soldiers from the 11th Bersaglieri Regiment were injured. According to preliminary data, they were fired upon by another Italian armored vehicle. All victims were hospitalized in Riga hospital, their condition is stable, there is no threat to life. An investigation into the circumstances of the incident is underway.

The crew of the Molniya-2 strike drone of the Center group of troops destroyed the UAV control center and Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment at night in the Dobropolsky direction after detecting the heat signature of an armored vehicle that was transporting FPV drones. An operator with the call sign Chizh noted that the enemy rarely uses transport, preferring ground-based robotic systems and personnel for logistics.

The Russian group of troops “Center” improved the tactical situation and defeated the manpower and equipment of six brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and five brigades of the Ukrainian National Guard, including the Azov brigade, in the areas of Bokovoye, Belozerskoye, Andreevka, Gornyak, Mezhevay, Blagodatka and Krivoy Rog. A unit of the 51st Army continues to destroy the encircled formations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Dobropolye, and the enemy’s attempt to break through the encirclement from the Pervomaisky area was stopped.

The forces of the Russian group “Sever” destroyed up to 135 military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a “Cossack” combat vehicle, four vehicles, a mortar, 16 UAV control posts, 72 aircraft UAVs, 25 heavy R-18 combat drones and three enemy ground robotic systems in one day, said the head of the Sever press center, Vasily Mezhevykh.

The Center group of troops destroyed more than 35 Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel in Dobropolye in the DPR in one day, and also prevented an attempt to break through the encirclement from the Pervomaisky area. The total losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the group’s area of responsibility per day amounted to up to 400 people, one armored vehicle and 9 cars.