War against Ukraine costs Russia nearly $1 billion per day – Ukraine's spy chief

The Chief of Ukraine’s intelligence agency, Kyrylo Budanov, shared the information in an interview with Ukrinform.  

“This is an extremely costly war overall. A single day of war costs them just under a billion [dollars], which is a huge sum of money,” Budanov stated.

When asked about Russia's economic potential, the head of Ukrainian intelligence responded, “Problems have already arisen, but we must not deceive ourselves. Even according to official figures, 41% of the budget is dedicated to defense. These are abnormal numbers, and nearly all social, medical, and educational programs have been cut to fund this budget... This means the financial and economic strain on the Russian Federation is already becoming apparent.”

At the same time, Budanov added that as long as Russia possesses oil, gas, metals, precious metals, and stones, “they will manage to balance.”

• Earlier, Budanov stated that before the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia's top leadership has realized the grave mistake they made in 2022.