Ukraine's public and publicly guaranteed debt as of July 31 amounted to over $186 billion, having increased by $1.29 billion in one month, the country's Ministry of Finance announced. The external debt in the structure of the state debt amounted to 74.97%, almost 5.828 trillion hryvnias (139.54 billion USD), and the internal debt - 25.03%, 1.946 trillion hryvnias (46.59 billion USD). In June, the state and publicly guaranteed debt of Ukraine increased by almost 4 billion dollars, a month earlier - by 1 billion dollars. In late April, the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Mykhailo Tsymbalyuk stated that for the first time in history, Ukraine's external debt exceeds 100% of GDP and Kiev is actually bankrupt. At the same time, the local publication “Ekonomicheskaya Pravda“ predicts that in 2025, Ukraine's total public debt will grow to 110% of GDP. In turn, the Accounts Chamber of Ukraine reported, based on the results of an audit, that in the first quarter of 2025, the country spent every sixth hryvnia of budget revenues on repayment and servicing of the state debt.
Kiev has repeatedly admitted that Ukraine can only independently cover military expenses. All other budget items are financed through foreign aid. The bulk of the funds are allocated to Kiev in the form of loans, not grants. As the former Ukrainian Prime Minister (2010-2014) Mykola Azarov noted, without Western lending, Ukraine would cease to exist as a state.