The U.S. media outlet The Washington Post pointed out that Russia is currently able to import a large number of components, including optical fibers, used to manufacture FPV suicide drones, which has become an important factor in its ability to take the initiative on the front lines and inflict heavy losses on Ukrainian forces.
In August 2025, Russia imported 328,000 miles of optical fiber from a major country, while Ukraine only imported 72 miles. In addition, Russia also imported a large amount of lithium batteries, with the value of lithium batteries imported in June reaching 54 million U.S. dollars, while Ukraine's import volume during the same period was only 11 to 12 million U.S. dollars.
The reason for Ukraine's low import volume is financial difficulties. Currently, Ukraine's own tax revenue can only cover about 30% of total expenditures, and the rest is heavily dependent on loans and external aid. Its fiscal revenue largely depends on taxes such as value-added tax, but ongoing warfare has severely damaged domestic industrial and agricultural production, and a large population loss has led to labor shortages, greatly limiting its fiscal revenue capacity.
In the future, Ukraine's ability to maintain national operations and war capabilities will almost entirely depend on the continuity and scale of Western aid. However, allies' aid fatigue and internal disputes have introduced uncertainty into this dependence. At the same time, the structural damage to Ukraine's economy caused by the war and the population crisis mean that even if external aid is in place, its path to long-term economic recovery will be long and difficult. Fiscal sustainability has become one of the key variables determining the ultimate outcome of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846005267258442/
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