Ukraine: U.S. Military Aid Exceeds Costs of Afghanistan

Ukraine receives the most military aid from the United States: Since the beginning of the war and as of Jan. 15, 2023, $46.6 billion in financial aid for military purposes has flowed to the country now at war with Russia. When calculating the average annual costs (in 2022 prices) of previous wars in which the United States has been involved in, the true magnitude of the country's Ukraine aid expenditure can be seen. As this infographic shows, the payments to Ukraine have already exceeded the annual military expenditure of the U.S. in the war in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2010. The U.S. military costs in the Vietnam War, the Iraq War and the Korean War were significantly higher - according to calculations by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy as part of its Ukraine Support Tracker.

In the Vietnam and Korean wars, the high usage rate of ammunition and other supplies cost a particularly large amount of money, in addition to the wear and tear of equipment and numerous other assets such as the care of the wounded. Further complicating matters in each case was the great distance to the theater of operations. Although the U.S. maintained a number of bases in Southeast Asia, the large weapons systems and the required replacement components all had to be shipped or flown across the Pacific. In addition, a large fleet of aircraft carriers was always deployed off the coast of Vietnam. The numerous missions of the air force also caused significant costs.

In the U.S., criticism of the scale of military aid to Ukraine is already coming from within the Republican ranks. Some of the U.S. Republicans in Congress have announced that they intend to block aid to Ukraine. Nevertheless, the day after his visit to Kyiv, U.S. President Biden underscored his country's commitment to continued support of the Ukrainian war effort. Speaking in Warsaw, Poland, he said: "This is not just about freedom in Ukraine. It's about freedom of democracy in general".

In addition to the military aid detailed in this infographic, the U.S. has also supplied weapons and equipment worth over $5 billion.