Russia has doubled its 2023 defence spending target to more than $100 billion - a third of all public expenditure - a government document reviewed by Reuters showed, as the costs of the war in Ukraine spiral and place growing strain on Moscow’s finances.
The figures shed light on Russia’s spending on the conflict at a time when sector-specific budget expenditure data is no longer published.
They show that in the first half of 2023 alone, Russia spent 12%, or 600 billion roubles, more on defence than the 4.98 trillion roubles ($54 billion) it had originally targeted for 2023.
Almost a fifth of all their budget mid year? If that is right and I understand it correctly, that is just not sustainable.
(cries in American)
Isn’t US military spending around 12% of budget? If I understood that article right, russia is about to spend 40% of theirs on military.
Probably depends on how you count it. It’s around $1T for regular ops, but there’s another 250-400B in veterans services and costs that are spent separately. Last I checked we were spending $6T a year. (I admit I didn’t google to check)
It’s not the same, but I understand Americans that want to spend less on military.
But right now is probably not the right time.