KIEV, Aug. 14 – Ukraine’s top military official on Thursday asked the government to double spending on defense in the wake of last week’s massive invasion of Russian troops in Georgia.

Serhiy Kyrychenko, the army’s chief of staff, said Ukraine’s defense spending accounts to only 1% of the gross domestic product, and is “the lowest such spending in Europe, and, perhaps, even in the world.”

Ukraine’s GDP is estimated at more than $180 billion in 2008.