Military expenditures of the Russian budget for the first half of 2025 set a new absolute record - 8.484 trillion rubles, according to calculations based on data from the Ministry of Finance by Janis Kluge, a research fellow at the German Institute for International Security Studies.
Compared to the same period last year, spending on the army and weapons production increased by 31%; compared to January-June 2023 - by 95%, and if compared to the first year of the war - three times, according to Kluge's calculations.
On average, the "war machine" ate 1.4 trillion rubles per month and 46.9 billion rubles per day - an amount exceeding the annual budgets of poor Russian regions (28.8 billion rubles in Kalmykia, 30.5 billion rubles in Karachay-Cherkessia, 42.7 billion rubles in the Altai Republic).
Almost two-thirds (62%) of the military budget in Russia is classified, according to Kluge's estimates: 3.203 trillion rubles were spent on open defense items in six months, and 5.281 trillion on "shadow" ones. Over the year, the secret budget increased by 41%, and almost 4 times compared to January-June of the first year of the war.
For 2022-24, the government spent more than 20 trillion rubles on the army and state defense orders. And the 2025 budget included another 13.5 trillion rubles under the "national defense" item - 30% of all expenses, or a record share since the Soviet Union.
Taking into account the "national security" item, which includes the budgets of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian National Guard, the Investigative Committee and the special services, the security forces were allocated about 40% of the treasury's expenses, or 8% of GDP. But the actual amount will be even higher, a government source told Reuters.
Even if peace talks in Ukraine are successful, the Kremlin does not plan to cut military spending in 2026, the agency's source said: "We will still need to make shells and drones, although on a slightly smaller scale. The confrontation will continue, the army and weapons spending will be higher, because the West is also increasing them."
If the active phase of hostilities ends, the military budget may decrease from 2027, although "we should not expect a reduction to the levels that were before 2022," the Reuters source emphasized.
Compared to the same period last year, spending on the army and weapons production increased by 31%; compared to January-June 2023 - by 95%, and if compared to the first year of the war - three times, according to Kluge's calculations.
On average, the "war machine" ate 1.4 trillion rubles per month and 46.9 billion rubles per day - an amount exceeding the annual budgets of poor Russian regions (28.8 billion rubles in Kalmykia, 30.5 billion rubles in Karachay-Cherkessia, 42.7 billion rubles in the Altai Republic).
Almost two-thirds (62%) of the military budget in Russia is classified, according to Kluge's estimates: 3.203 trillion rubles were spent on open defense items in six months, and 5.281 trillion on "shadow" ones. Over the year, the secret budget increased by 41%, and almost 4 times compared to January-June of the first year of the war.
For 2022-24, the government spent more than 20 trillion rubles on the army and state defense orders. And the 2025 budget included another 13.5 trillion rubles under the "national defense" item - 30% of all expenses, or a record share since the Soviet Union.
Taking into account the "national security" item, which includes the budgets of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian National Guard, the Investigative Committee and the special services, the security forces were allocated about 40% of the treasury's expenses, or 8% of GDP. But the actual amount will be even higher, a government source told Reuters.
Even if peace talks in Ukraine are successful, the Kremlin does not plan to cut military spending in 2026, the agency's source said: "We will still need to make shells and drones, although on a slightly smaller scale. The confrontation will continue, the army and weapons spending will be higher, because the West is also increasing them."
If the active phase of hostilities ends, the military budget may decrease from 2027, although "we should not expect a reduction to the levels that were before 2022," the Reuters source emphasized.
