Military spending in Russia jumps almost four times since 2021, intelligence says
Photo: Vladimir Putin, Russian President (Getty Images)
Russia's federal military spending from January to September 2025 reached a historic peak, increasing 295% compared to 2021, according to the press service of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU).
According to intelligence, the cost of the war for Russia is 1.32 trillion rubles per month (around $16.6 billion), or 43.4 billion rubles per day (about $546 million), which equals 1.9 billion rubles per hour (approximately $23.9 million). The Kremlin allocates 44% of all federal budget tax revenues and 39% of total expenditures to fund the war.
SZRU noted that the total cost of the war in Ukraine for Russian taxpayers has reached 42.343 trillion rubles (around $542 billion).
This amount is comparable to 24 years of the entire higher education budget in Russia, 22 years of federal healthcare spending, or nearly 80 years of the budgets of large regions such as Sverdlovsk or Krasnodar.
Despite increased defense production, Russia's military-industrial complex remains structurally similar to the Soviet model: it consumes resources but yields little economic return. Current trends suggest the defense sector is becoming a black hole for the budget, crowding out civilian investment, limiting technological development, and increasing long-term fiscal risks.
"This imbalance indicates that the Russian economy operates not according to industrial development or modernization logic, but according to the survival logic of the military budget, which increasingly absorbs resources needed for long-term economic growth," the intelligence service said.
Russia's 2026 budget
Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law defining Russia's 2026 budget.
In 2026, revenues are projected at 40.3 trillion rubles, with expenditures at 44 trillion rubles ($507.2 billion). Russia has allocated 12.93 trillion rubles ($162.8 billion) for the war.
