Russia's military spending could increase by nearly third in 2025
Illustrative photo: Russia plans to adopt a state budget with record military spending (Getty Images)
In Russia's draft state budget for 2025, defense expenditures are set at 13.5 trillion rubles (approximately $145 billion). This represents an increase of nearly one-third compared to 2024, according to Meduza.
The draft federal budget for 2025, along with the planned periods for 2026 and 2027, was submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Federation today, September 30.
According to the agency, military expenditures in Russia for 2025 will account for 6.31% of the country's GDP. The 13.5 trillion rubles (about $145 billion) marks a record amount. Previously, the record was 10.4 trillion rubles (around $106 billion) allocated for defense in 2024.
Additionally, the document states that Russia plans to reduce defense funding in 2026 and 2027. In 2026, the allocation is projected to be 12.8 trillion rubles (approximately $138.06 billion), and in 2027, it is expected to be 13.1 trillion rubles (about $141.30 billion).
Notably, the state budget for 2024 and the planned periods for 2025 and 2026 had initially projected military expenditures of 8.5 trillion rubles (about $91.68 billion) for 2025.
Background
It is worth mentioning that just a week ago, Bloomberg reviewed the draft state budget for 2025.
Journalists claimed that Russia planned to allocate 13.2 trillion rubles (approximately $142 billion) for defense expenditures in 2025.
Recently, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, stated that Russia aims to end the war with Ukraine by 2026.
