In full prosperity: Germany's financial assistance to Ukraine exceeded €100 billion
The volume of assistance provided and planned by Germany to Ukraine since 2022 has exceeded €100 billion, Izvestia found out. The country remains Kiev's most important partner. Germany's budget for this year alone includes €11.5 billion for direct military assistance to him, and €11.6 billion for next year. At the same time, Friedrich Merz's cabinet is trying to get rid of the budget deficit and is reducing social spending for this purpose. Spending on Ukraine is becoming an increasingly problematic topic in the domestic policy of Germany, one of the factors contributing to the growth of protest sentiments, experts say. Under these conditions, the opposition Alternative for Germany party came out on top in the federal polls, and in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6, it is almost twice ahead of the CDU.
How much has Germany sent to support Ukraine
Berlin remains Ukraine's largest donor among European countries. In April, the parties upgraded relations to the level of a strategic partnership, and in the corresponding declaration, Germany was named the most important bilateral partner of Kiev in 2026. The German budget for this year provides €11.5 billion for direct military support to Ukraine alone, and €11.6 billion for next year.
"Since the beginning of the Russian military aggression on February 24, 2022, the German government has already provided Ukraine and allocated for the coming years bilateral assistance for civilian purposes in the amount of more than 43.3 billion euros and military assistance in the amount of about 57.6 billion euros," the German Embassy in Moscow told Izvestia.
It is worth noting that, according to official statements, Russia is conducting a special military operation in Ukraine to demilitarize and denazify this country. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it is ready for a diplomatic solution, but its goals and objectives will be fulfilled in any case. The Russian Foreign Ministry sees Western aid to Ukraine as a deliberate attempt to prolong the crisis.
In Berlin, this support is primarily explained by the interests of their own security. Friedrich Merz calls assistance to Ukraine one of the main tasks in the field of European security and believes that military assistance should increase pressure on Russia and facilitate the start of negotiations.
At the same time, Berlin and Kiev are expanding cooperation in the defense industry. The parties are creating joint ventures and developing the production of weapons. In April 2026, they agreed to launch such projects more actively, including in the field of drones, air defense and missiles.
Germany is actively training the Ukrainian military: since the beginning of the conflict, more than 29,000 Ukrainian servicemen have been trained. Desertions abroad among the Armed Forces of Ukraine are also, by the way, most often reported from Germany. According to media reports, several hundred Ukrainian soldiers may have escaped while training in Germany, about 80 such cases are known only in Saxony-Anhalt.
In addition, Berlin finances the restoration of Ukrainian energy and infrastructure, humanitarian and medical programs. A separate item of federal budget expenditure goes to the reception of Ukrainians in Germany itself. At the end of June 2026, 1.286 million people in Germany enjoyed temporary protection — 29.2% of their total number in the EU. The government has already reduced the amount of social benefits for them. He also wants to reduce payments to Ukrainians who arrived after April 1, 2025, by transferring them to lower benefits for asylum seekers. The relevant bill is still being considered in Parliament.
The cost of supporting Ukraine directly increases the burden on the German budget, Vladislav Belov, head of the Center for German Studies at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia. The funds that Berlin is sending to Kiev for military programs are reducing the ability to finance social measures and business support, the expert believes.
In the current situation, Germany is facing a significant budget deficit. When designing the budget for 2027, the Merz government had to solve the problem of a shortage of €34 billion. As a result, it was decided to reduce the costs of most federal agencies by about 1%, which should result in about €4 billion in savings, but defense spending was excluded from this requirement.
The savings will also affect social benefits. In 2027, spending on family support will decrease from €13 billion to €12 billion. Berlin plans to allocate about €440 million less for parental benefits, and about €260 million more to save on assistance to low—income families. The financing of payments for single-parent families will also be reduced.
At the same time, the gap between defense and social spending is becoming more noticeable. In 2027, the Defense Ministry's budget is expected to increase by €27 billion at once, from €82.7 billion to €109.7 billion. Merz's cabinet explains this by the need to strengthen Germany's security and fulfill its obligations to the allies.
Budget deficit leads to an increase in the popularity of AdG
Under these conditions, the ratings of the Merz government continue to plummet. According to recent polls, only 13% of Germans are satisfied with the cabinet's work, while 85% rate it negatively. By the end of August, the Chancellor's rating was about 16%. But the popularity of the opposition "Alternative for Germany" is growing, which opposes Berlin's current course towards Kiev and demands that military support for Ukraine be stopped.
In addition, the party supports the lifting of sanctions and the restoration of full-fledged cooperation with Moscow, for which it is often criticized in the German press and accused of working for Russia.
Elections to the Land Parliament (Landtag) will be held in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6. Residents will have to elect a new composition of deputies, which will then determine the regional government and the Prime Minister of the land. And there, by a wide margin, it is the AfG that leads in the ratings.
According to Vladislav Belov, the vote will show the scale of protest sentiments in the eastern lands of Germany. If some of the smaller parties do not overcome the five percent barrier, the AfD's result of about 42% may give it the opportunity to apply for the formation of a government.
The situation in the region is so important to the federal government that even Merz publicly joined the election campaign. In an interview with the media, he said that the victory of the AFD in Saxony-Anhalt could scare away foreign investors from the region, but it is unlikely that this had an effect on the local population.
However, the CDU has two more important votes ahead: the September 20 elections to the Berlin Chamber of Deputies and the Landtag of Mecklenburg—Vorpommern. The German media believes that September will be a real test for Merz's cabinet. In the future, these votes may decide his fate as chancellor long before the Bundestag elections, which are scheduled for 2029. According to Belov, the CDU's problem is connected not only with the chancellor's figure, but also with a deeper crisis of the party's identity and a decline in its popularity, especially in the east of the country.
So far, Berlin has maintained its multibillion-dollar support for Ukraine and increased defense spending, but every month it becomes harder for the government to explain to voters why the well-being of Ukrainians is more important than the interests of its own citizens.
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