Putin approves Russian budget with record military spending

This is reported by AP.

The signed law states that in 2025, the "National Defense" expenditures will account for about 32.5% of the budget. That’s 13.5 trillion rubles (over $145 billion), up from 28.3% this year.

According to DW, Russia's total budget expenditures for next year are expected to be 41.47 trillion rubles (19.3% of GDP). This is 1.17 trillion rubles more than the expected revenues.

It is also reported that the budget deficit for 2026 and 2027 is forecasted to be 2.18 trillion rubles and 2.76 trillion rubles, respectively.

• Earlier, it was reported that Russia's State Duma passed the law "On the Federal Budget for 2025 and the planning period for 2026-2027." The law includes record spending on military needs.
• The Moscow Times also reported that Russia’s weekly war expenses in Ukraine have reached 210 billion rubles, which exceeds the annual budgets of 80% of the country's regions.