Kyiv aid surges despite long-term shortages

LONDON/MOSCOW/KYIV — Boosted by new EU financing, military aid for Ukraine in June hit its highest level since the United States pulled funding, though long-term support is lagging, Kiel Institute data showed on Thursday, as Russia and Ukraine continued to trade strikes.

Kyiv was allocated 7.2 billion euros ($8.3 billion) in military aid in June, the highest amount since the 9.04 billion euros received in April 2024. US funding dried up in February 2025.

It is the third-biggest monthly military funding boost from donors since Russia's military operation in February 2022, according to the think tank's Ukraine Support Tracker.

The surge was largely driven by the European Union's new Ukraine Support Loan, which helped European institutions allocate 4.3 billion euros of military aid in May and June.

The EU loan was introduced to support Ukraine's budgetary and military needs in 2026 and 2027.

"The rapid launch of the Ukraine Support Loan sends a positive signal to Ukraine," said Taro Nishikawa, project lead of Kiel's Ukraine Support Tracker.

On top of the loan support, Germany allocated 700 million euros, Denmark 600 million euros, and the Netherlands 500 million euros to support Ukraine's military.

But long-term funding levels remain below those seen before US President Donald Trump pulled the plug.

Before February 2025, donors allocated an average of 3.46 billion euros per month in military aid to Kyiv. Since then, that figure has fallen to 2.94 billion euros.

Key role

Although the United States no longer directly contributes to the effort, its weapons still play a key role.

Europe is increasingly procuring weapons from US defense companies and receiving deliveries from existing US military stockpiles.

"The United States remains a key supplier of systems such as Patriot, for which Europe has only limited alternatives at the moment," said Federico Mellace, lead analyst of the Ukraine Support Tracker.

In developments on the battlefield, three people were killed and eight others injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia's Novorossiysk city, Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Wednesday.

Novorossiysk Mayor Andrei Kravchenko declared a state of emergency after the strikes damaged several educational facilities and ruptured two water mains, disrupting supplies to the city. One main line has been repaired, while work continues on the other, he said.

The strike targeted Russia's naval base in Novorossiysk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Thursday it had intercepted and destroyed 362 Ukrainian drones overnight over various regions.

In Ukraine, regional authorities said on Telegram that Russia struck the area around Ukraine's largest Danube port of Izmail overnight, causing damage and setting off a fire.

Izmail, near the Romanian border in the southern region of Odesa, handles grain and other commodities.

Romania, a member of NATO and the European Union, scrambled two fighter jets, its defense ministry said on X, adding that an aerial target spent about 10 minutes in national airspace before leaving for Ukraine.

Also in the Odesa region, a Russian drone hit a passenger train, killing the driver and his assistant, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, CEO of Ukrainian Railways, said in a post on Facebook.

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