Italy’s Ukraine Arms Aid Bill Three Times Bigger Than Previously Reported

Rome has sent an array of weapons and ammunition to Kiev over the past two years, including pricy air defense batteries and radars recently destroyed by Russia’s military, towed and self-propelled artillery, mortars, armored vehicles, MILAN portable anti-tank weapons, Stinger MANPADS, small arms and body armor.

Italy has spent over three times more arming Ukraine than previously reported, with spending on equipment totaling €2.2 billion – far greater than the €691 million previously estimated.

That’s according to a report by Italy’s Il Fogio newspaper citing Defense Ministry figures, suggesting publicly available data were artificially lowered to exclude “classified" information.

“A table circulating in the Ministry of Defense, which confirms the data obtained by Il Fogio, helps provide a picture of the situation. Germany has so far allocated €17.7 billion, €3.3 billion per year until the year 2027. Britain has allocated €9.1 billion, the Netherlands €4.4 billion, spread over several years…Denmark has allocated €8.4 billion, but spread over six years, from 2023 to 2028, which means €1.4 billion per year starting in 2023. Norway - €3.8 billion spread over five years, or just over €700 million per year. Poland - €3 billion, also spread over several year. Canada [has allocated] less than Italy, €2.07 billion. Sweden - €2.03 billion, but the figure also includes civil aid which cannot be separated from the general data. Finland has so far made aid amounting to €1.64 billion available to Ukraine. Switzerland - 1.64 billion Swiss francs [€1.7 billion, ed.] spread until 2028,” the paper said.

In a recent interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto assured that among European powers, only Germany and the UK have sent more defense assistance than Italy to Kiev.

However, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, even taking Il Fogio’s updated €2.2 billion figure at face value, Italian spending remains behind not only Germany and Britain, but the total aid commitments of Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland, putting Italy eighth overall when including the United States and European institutions.

Italy is the second European power to report higher-then-previously reported spending on NATO’s ongoing proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, with France’s Defense Ministry publishing a list of military equipment delivered to Kiev this week, and estimating total spending of €2.615 billion in direct aid, plus €1.2 billion in support via the so-called European Peace Facility.

NATO countries have spent well over €115 billion ($125 billion US) on military assistance to Ukraine over the past 24 months – nearly double Russia’s 2022 defense budget, but have little to show for it, with Russia churning through tens of billions of euros' worth of pricey NATO hardware and ramping up domestic defense production while Western countries increasingly face critical shortages of even basic ammunition after giving their stocks away to Ukraine.

Former Belgian Vice Chief of Defense Marc Thys warned German media on Monday that European inventories “are extremely low, especially when it comes to high-quality ammunition,” and that “if you order today, for some types of ammunition it will take up to seven years to receive your order.”

Italy is no exception in this regard, with a source from Italy’s defense ministry telling local media last spring that the country’s defense was in “serious difficulty,” and that the country would have enough ammo to last “between 48 and 72” hours if it came under attack.