Russia's military budget increase means war can continue at same intensity - Estonian intelligence
Estonian intelligence assessed Russia's funding capabilities for the war against Ukraine (Getty Images)
The budget recently approved by the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin demonstrates Russia's capability to continue the war against Ukraine. This statement was made by the commander of the Center for Military Intelligence of the Armed Forces of Estonia, Ants Kiviselg, writes ERR.
According to Kivisild, Russia has increased defense spending by approximately 100%, with defense expenditures reaching 100 billion euros this year. The head of intelligence for the Defense Forces also reported that in the first half of the year, expenditures on the Russian Armed Forces exceeded the amounts allocated in this year's defense budget by ten percent. This necessitated changes to the budget.
"In a nutshell, this will allow Russia to continue the ongoing war [in Ukraine] at the current level of intensity. However, this is being maintained at the cost of a significant decline in services and welfare for Russian society," said Kiviselg.
Battlefield situation
Kivisild also stated that the situation on the Ukrainian front has not changed in the past week.
"The overall intensity of the fighting has decreased somewhat compared to previous weeks, which may be due to the worsening weather conditions at the end of last week and the beginning of this one," he said.
According to him, the main focus of Russian armed forces' activities, as before, is directed towards the Avdiivka area, where the most intense combat operations are taking place.
Fighting on the left bank of the Dnipro
The colonel explained that there have been no significant changes on the southern front.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to hold areas on the eastern bank of the Dnipro, and Russia began additional mining of possible directions for a Ukrainian offensive to thwart any potential Ukrainian advance in that direction.
"It is unlikely that the Russian Federation will be able to achieve an operational breakthrough in Ukraine in the near future," emphasized Kivisild.
Putin increases Russia's war budget
It was recently reported that Putin signed a law on the federal budget for 2024-2026.
Next year, the Russian government intends to allocate nearly a third of all expenditures for the maintenance of the army and the defense-industrial complex, the first time since Soviet times.
According to ISW experts, in 2023, the Russian Ministry of Finance allocated $72.1 billion for defense. However, this amount is likely higher, considering that a significant portion of the Russian federal budget is classified
