According to Kravchenko, alarm sirens in Ukraine can be activated for up to 10 hours a day, and a significant part of the economy stops work during this time as workers go to shelters.
However, more than half of enterprises continue their operations during the so-called yellow alert announced due to the threat of drone attacks. In this case, businesses can remain open as long as they provide workers with access to shelters or other safe places.
However, the minister emphasized that introducing a yellow alert aimed at limiting the economic effects of attacks does not mean eliminating the threat to the population.
The Guardian notes that this threat became obvious on Monday when a Russian jet-powered drone struck the building of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in central Kiev while a yellow, rather than a more serious red, alert was in force. Two people died as a result of this attack.
“We did not fully predict how quickly Russia would develop drones with jet engines and start using them to attack everything they could,” Kravchenko said.
He added that this year alone, Russian attacks have caused damage worth about $10 billion. The goals included: metallurgical plants, warehouses, logistics infrastructure and data centers.
According to the minister, Russia is also effectively blocking Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, through which most of the country's exports passed before the blockade.
Ukraine is currently seeking additional funding from the EU, Japan, Canada and the UK. According to Kravchenko, the following are being considered: early disbursement of loans that were to be disbursed next year.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky announced on Wednesday that the total costs of the war in Ukraine this year will amount to $155 billion. This number did not appear just now and is not new. Already in February 2026, during the meeting in Ramstein, the then leadership of the Ministry of Defense presented it to our partners. The amount of USD 155 billion was again recorded in the "Financial Strategy" document, which the government submitted to the EU in March 2026 as part of the dialogue on obtaining a loan to support Ukraine (Ukraine Support Loan), the Interfax-Ukraine agency quoted Korecki's statement to journalists.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the amount of USD 155 billion consists of budget funds and off-budget material and technical assistance, which includes missiles, equipment and other weapons provided by partners. These include, for example, PAC-2 or PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot air defense system.
Korecki noted that currently USD 27 billion is missing from this amount, which constitutes a deficit in financing defense needs for the current year. Of these USD 27 billion, the government plans to cover approximately USD 7 billion through savings, optimization and reallocation of expenditure. This means tightening the austerity policy in public finances and postponing some of the expenditure that is not a priority. These funds are intended to ensure, in particular, payments for soldiers and support for their families, Korecki said.
According to the Prime Minister, the remaining USD 20 billion is subject to negotiations with partners.
Our ability to conduct active combat operations depends on these funds, especially in the first quarter of 2027, because it is necessary to finance the production of appropriate weapons, he explained.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the government team will soon work out the details of the mechanism for covering the USD 27 billion deficit in financing the Ministry of Defense, including the possibility of obtaining part of the funds in the drone deal formula.
He said that during meetings with the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, he received a positive reaction regarding the need to cover this deficit. The head of state explained that most of the missing amount constitutes funds for armaments, in particular for drones and missiles made in Ukraine.
