Russian Senator Claims Ukraine Is "Bankrupt," Dependent on Foreign Aid

A Russian senator, Alexander Voloshin, has said that Ukraine has become a "bankrupt country" with no reserves of its own to recover economically, according to a report by the Russian state news agency TASS.

TASS quoted Voloshin as saying that Ukraine currently subsists solely on external cash injections, without specifying further details of the figures or sources behind the claim.

The statement was attributed to Voloshin in his capacity as a member of the Federation Council, the upper chamber of Russia's parliament, though TASS did not provide additional context on the setting in which the remarks were made.

The claims could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials have not yet issued a public response to the statement.

Ukraine's economy has been significantly affected by Russia's ongoing invasion, which began in February 2022, with the country relying heavily on financial assistance from Western allies, including the United States, the European Union and international financial institutions, to sustain its budget and reconstruction efforts throughout the conflict.

TASS is a Russian state-owned news agency, and its reporting on the war and related economic matters often reflects official Russian government positions.