Russia is hiking state spending on national defence by a quarter in 2025 to 6.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the highest level since the Cold War, according to draft budget documents.
Defence spending will rise to 13.5 trillion roubles ($145bn) in 2025, the fourth year of what Russia calls “a special military operation” in Ukraine, up 25 percent from the 2024 level, the documents published on Monday showed.
Defence spending will account for 32 percent of total 2025 budget expenditure of 41.5 trillion roubles ($446bn).
The draft budget was officially submitted on Monday to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, for review.
In last year’s draft, the government planned to reduce defence spending by 21 percent in 2025. The reversal shows the scale of state planners’ continued focus on the military.
In 2022, the year the Ukraine war started, Russia spent 5.5 trillion roubles ($59bn) on defence.
“Resources will be allocated and have already been allocated for equipping the armed forces with the necessary weapons and military equipment, paying military salaries, and supporting defence industry enterprises,” Russia’s Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
About 10 percent of total defence spending will go to military personnel payments, which have also hit a post-Soviet high, with the minimum annual wage in the first year of service at the front line reaching 3.25 million roubles ($34,945).
State spending on national security, a separate item from national defence, which also includes financing of the military and security agencies, will amount to 3.5 trillion roubles ($38bn) in 2025.
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