How much does Ukraine cost?

As Aleksey Kopytko likes to say, “Let’s calculate in columns!” So How much does Ukraine cost?

On January 13, 2025, the Congressional Research Service published its study on providing financial assistance to Ukraine – U.S. Direct Financial Support for Ukraine.

The report states that, as of January 2025, the U.S. Congress has transferred a total of $174.2 billion to Ukraine for the 2022-2024 fiscal years.

USAID has committed to $30 billion in financial support to Ukraine through World Bank mechanisms and has guaranteed a $20 billion loan repayment to the Ukrainian government through the U.S. budget’s financial capacities for the 2024 fiscal year.

This is according to the Congressional Research Service.

Considering this, it’s not entirely clear where Mr. Trump gets the figures of $500 billion or $350 billion… But, for someone who has spent their whole life in huge debts and experienced several bankruptcies, such an approach is understandable.

Now, let’s turn to history.

After gaining independence in 1991, Ukraine inherited a significant nuclear arsenal, which consisted of approximately 1,900 strategic nuclear warheads and 2,500 units of tactical nuclear weapons. At that time, the country had 220 strategic carriers, including 130 SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and 46 SS-24 ICBMs, as well as around 176 silo-based launchers for strategic missiles.

After 1994, as part of fulfilling the “ASSURANCES” of the Budapest Memorandum, about 2,000 strategic nuclear warheads were transported from Ukraine to Russia. In total, from March 1994 to June 1996, around 5,000 nuclear warheads, including tactical weapons, were moved out of Ukraine.

Additionally, at least 44 heavy bombers equipped with 1,068 air-launched long-range cruise missiles were either handed over to Russia or dismantled, including Tu-95 and Tu-160, the exact number of which was not publicly disclosed.

In 2001, I sat in the cockpit of the last Tu-160 in Ukraine at the Poltava military airfield. Almost everything had already been stripped from it. I was told that the entire regiment lined up along the runway when the aircraft came in for its last stop. Everyone cried. I was about 5 years old when I saw the Ukrainian “White Swan” fly at 250 meters above the Poltava airfield.

In short, the conclusion is clear.

In 2023, total spending on nuclear weapons amounted to $91.4 billion. This includes development (which has significantly decreased) and maintenance. France’s annual spending on nuclear deterrence amounts to 6.6 billion euros.

The exact cost of a single warhead cannot be named, as such items do not have a market price. But let’s at least estimate what we handed over for the security of the West, WITHOUT COMPENSATION!

5,000 nuclear warheads
130 ICBMs
44 bombers
176 silo-based launchers

If we assume that the cost of producing a single nuclear charge in 2024 is around $25-50 million (the development of the M51 intercontinental ballistic missile cost France 5 billion euros), then, by the most conservative estimates, Ukraine handed over nuclear warheads worth:

5,000 * $25 million = $125 billion.

One launcher is about $1 billion.
One bomber costs $200 million.

This doesn’t account for the dismantling of the 9K72 “Elbrus” (Scud) missile systems, with over 185 missiles and 50 launchers cut up and handed over, with the direct involvement of our beloved Masha Yovanovych.

Thus, when we calculate all this and add the unused funds for NATO’s nuclear deterrence (since there was nothing to deter—Ukraine gave it all away), we must say that it’s not Ukraine that should cover the U.S. aid with its rare earth metals!

NATO countries should pool their funds and pay for the fact that Ukraine invested more in global security architecture than any other country in the world, by giving up all the assets mentioned above.

If everyone says Mr. Trump is a businessman, let him speak to us “in business terms.” No one is against the need to pay for security, but we need to figure out who owes whom, and how much!

Dmytro Zolotukhin