KIEV, Jan. 20 – The Ukrainian defense budget for 2017 will be enough to train 269 Air Force military crews and 25 brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Deputy Defense Minister Oleh Shevchuk said.

Almost 2.5% of GDP, or about UAH 64.5 billion, is earmarked for the 2017 defense budget, he said.

"This is 15%, or UAH 8.5 billion, up on 2016. In addition, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry provided state guarantees in the amount of over UAH 4.5 billion. Almost UAH 3 billion from the defense budget was allocated for military drills of the Armed Forces, more than UAH 11.5 billion will be spent on the development of weapons and military equipment, which is almost half more than in 2016," he said.