Netherlands pledges over $2 billion for Ukraine in 2025, including $540 million for drones

The Netherlands will allocate 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) to support Ukraine in 2025, said Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans and State Secretary Gijs Tuinman on March 31.

This support will include 500 million euros ($540 million) for Ukraine’s Drone Line project, Brekelmans noted. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced the project in February, presenting it as a new military initiative aimed at integrating unmanned aerial systems into front-line operations.

Various aerial, naval, and ground drones have been developed and successfully used by Ukrainian troops for reconnaissance, combat, and other tasks. Ukraine is also working to scale up domestic production, having the capacity to produce over 5 million first-person-view (FPV) drones per year, presidential advisor Alexander Kamyshin said.

“These drones will make a difference on the battlefield and literally save lives,” said Brekelmans in a statement.

During their recent trip to Ukraine, Brekelmans and Tuinman visited the city of Dnipro after a Russian mass drone attack. Four people were killed and 28 injured, according to authorities.

The two also visited military headquarters on the eastern front and met with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, the Netherlands has provided Kyiv with a combined 7.33 billion euros ($7.87 billion) in support, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

How the next generation of Ukrainian drone pilots are being trained at UAV schools

Ukraine’s drone wizardry has drawn the attention of militaries around the world. In addition to an ever-growing drone industry, the rise of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has necessitated new education. Since 2022, a crop of drone schools has popped up around Ukraine to train drone pilots to fight…

The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post