MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. Ukraine’s defense spending saw a nine-fold increase in 2022 compared to the previous year, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said on Tuesday.

"In 2022, we increased spending on the country’s defense by a factor of nine compared to 2021. Security spending increased by 2.5 times," he said at a government meeting.

Meanwhile, according to a report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday, Ukraine’s defense spending in 2022 reached $44 billion, or 6.4 times what it was in 2021, a record-breaking increase. As a result, taking into account the damage done to the Ukrainian economy by combat operations, defense spending as a share of the budget went up from 3.2% in 2021 to 34% in 2022. According to the SIPRI’s estimates, the United States’ military assistance to Ukraine amounted to $19.9 billion.