The financial strain has been a long-standing issue within Ukraine’s military, which has faced increasing challenges in covering salaries, particularly for soldiers engaged in active operations.

Roksolana Pidlasa, head of the budget committee, confirmed the looming financial crisis during a public television broadcast, stressing that lawmakers will amend the budget in the coming days to resolve the issue.

Pidlasa did not specify the exact date of the parliamentary session but assured military personnel that a solution should be in place by September 17-18.

Earlier this year, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged to raise monthly payments for soldiers actively involved in frontline combat for more than two years to as much as 200,000 hryvnias (€4,400).

Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko acknowledged the scale of the challenge. “As is known, in 2022, we adjusted the budget multiple times, increasing spending on the security and defense sector. In 2023, there have been at least three additional changes,” he said.

Marchenko added that further amendments would be made to secure the necessary funds to cover soldiers’ pay.