Kremlin asks propagandists not to report on increase in spending for war against Ukraine
Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin (Getty Images)
Russia plans to allocate 13.2 trillion rubles (approximately $142 billion) for defense expenditures and the war against Ukraine in its 2025 state budget. This amounts to more than one-third of all expenditures and is a record high, Meduza reports.
However, as the media outlet writes, Russian authorities fear that news about this will "trigger negative perceptions among citizens" and could lead to a decline in Putin's ratings.
Specifically, sources from Meduza stated that after Bloomberg reported a significant increase in military expenditures, Russian state, and pro-government media were instructed by the presidential administration to ignore this material. This information is confirmed by two employees from such media outlets. According to one of them, officials requested "not to touch this topic - the budget hasn’t been passed yet."
However, just a week later, shortly before the Russian budget was submitted to the Duma, the media received new instructions: to present the budget as "social," and to avoid discussing war expenditures altogether.
"The only exception is payments to military personnel and support for their families. This supposedly falls under social items," said a journalist from a Russian state media outlet.
Other sources within Meduza believe that the budget is "not supposed to be a taboo topic," but "media coverage of it should emphasize the right things."
"Opinion polls indicate that rising prices are one of the biggest problems right now, and people generally suspect that it’s because of the special military operation. It’s also hard to overlook social problems like the shortage of doctors and teachers. These issues are already evident, but when everyone reads that 'military spending has increased,' sees billions added to the budget, and notices social problems getting even worse, the conclusion will be obvious: 'The authorities are not managing things well.' And this can lead to declining approval ratings," stated a source close to Putin's administration.
Another source revealed that materials from Russian media regarding the budget should instill "social optimism, not pessimism, in the context that everything is going towards the war."
"The messaging around the special military operation’s goals is still unclear. So far, it’s been possible to portray military activity as happening somewhere far away and not affecting people directly. But the increase in military spending could become a trigger: What is the money being spent on and why?" they said.
Russian state and pro-government media have likely adhered to the authorities' "recommendations." Specifically, regarding military expenditures, media outlets prefer to remain silent, emphasizing that the budget "allows for increased funding for obligations, programs, and projects," and that "distribution of social spending is quite fair."
What preceded this
Some time ago, Bloomberg reported that Russia plans to significantly increase military spending in 2025. The corresponding budget aims to allocate 13.2 trillion rubles (142 billion dollars).
