Russia dramatically increases war spending

Bloomberg has calculated that spending on the war will increase by 43% of the officially planned amount. The business outlet draws these conclusions by accessing the secret articles of the Russian budget.

Putin has "budgeted" $65 billion for the war out of the $143 billion provided for the maintenance of the Russian military.  This is very little, since, according to Forbes, every month of "denazification of Ukraine" costs the Kremlin $12 billion. That is, $144 billion is needed for combat operations alone, and this does not include the restoration of lost military equipment, the production of new missiles, etc. By the way, remember the figure of $78 billion ($143 billion for the security forces – $65 billion for defence) – this is how much is spent on various henchmen of the regime - the FSB, FSO, Rosgvardia, police, etc.

The gap between official and real expenditures is often funded by secret items in the Russian budget, which total 25%, or $95 billion. Most of these billions are spent in secret.

"Today, Russians spend 3/5 of their federal budget on the war with Ukraine. But Russian military spending has not really increased, as the empire's revenues have decreased and various off-budget stashes are running out. Therefore, the burden on the official treasury is growing"

Now we can do the maths: the federal budget of the Russian Federation is $379.5 billion. The total check for "national defence" – due to excessive secrecy – is difficult to calculate mathematically, but it cannot be less than $222 billion ($144 billion in war expenses + $78 billion). This includes only the financing of the basic needs of a totalitarian state: warfare and maintenance.  In other words, if Bloomberg and Forbes cite correct figures, it turns out that Russians are currently spending 3/5 of their federal budget on the war with Ukraine. However, Russian military spending has not increased much at all, as the empire's revenues have simply decreased and various off-budget stashes are running out. Therefore, the burden on the official treasury is growing.

More and more publications are giving a general assessment of the situation with Russians. Here's the latest. Russia's economy is starting to fall apart - WSJ. There are many interesting passages there, but, as for me, the key one is this: "Despite Russia's resilience in the short term, the long-term picture is grim: Moscow will be much more closed and overly dependent on China."

We all expect victories on the home front, but the economic war against Russia is also bearing fruit, bringing our victory closer. No serious analyst is talking about "the collapse of the Muscovite economy in 2-3 weeks," but at the same time, no sane person predicts the ability of the bunker regime to hold on for years. Iraq and North Korea cannot be an argument here, as neither of them is engaged in a full-scale war.  

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About the author. Orest Sohar, journalist, editor-in-chief of Obozrevatel

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.