Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the country’s budget for 2025 on Sunday, which includes record-breaking spending on military needs amid Moscow’s ongoing assault against Ukraine. The budget allocates about $126 billion (13.5 trillion rubles) to national defence – which reportedly amounts to 32.5 per cent of the total government spending.
Moscow’s 2025 defence budget is about $28 billion (three trillion rubles) higher than the previous record set this year, according to a report by CNN. This is reportedly over 6 per cent of Russia’s total gross domestic product (GDP).
Last year, the Russian government allocated 28.3 per cent of total spending to Defence needs. According to a report by The Kyiv Independent, the planned Russian spending on war and law enforcement agencies surpassed the country’s combined expenditures on education, healthcare, social policy, and the national economy.
The new three-year budget, however, projects a slight reduction in military spending for 2026 and 2027, with $114.9 billion allocated for 2026 and $122.4 billion for 2027. Lawmakers in both houses of the Russian parliament, the State Duma and Federation Council, had already approved the budget plans in late November.
The Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022, remains Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II. The war has drained both Moscow and Kyiv’s resources.
Though Russian forces are bigger and better equipped, and in recent months Moscow’s army has even pushed Ukrainian troops backwards in eastern areas, the massive spending on military needs has put a strain on its economy and population.
Inflation is running high in the country, and there is a labour shortage in the market. In an effort to control the spiralling situation, the Russian Central Bank, in October, raised interest rates to 21 per cent, the highest in decades.
Though Ukraine has always been on the back foot in the war in terms of material and manpower, it has been getting billions of dollars in help from its Western allies. On Monday, one of Ukraine’s major backers, Germany pledged more than half a billion in new military equipment, scheduled to be delivered in December.
It remains to be seen how much aid Kyiv will continue to come from the United States once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.