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Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a record defense budget, allocating a staggering third of total government spending as the war in Ukraine drains resources from both sides nearly three years on.
Next year’s budget, released on Sunday, allocates about $126 billion ($194 billion) to national defense – 32.5 percent of government spending.
The defense budget is about $43 billion higher than the previous record set this year.
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The new three-year budget foresees a slight reduction in military spending for 2026 and 2027. Lawmakers in both houses of the Russian parliament approved the budget.
Russia’s war in Ukraine is the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. Moscow is currently advancing at key points along the front line and is leading a counter-offensive in the Kursk region – the site of Kiev’s only major military success this year.
But the slow, grueling war—often called a war of attrition, in which both sides try to wear down the other—drained the resources of both countries.
Ukraine has always been behind in terms of material and manpower, even though it has received billions of dollars in aid from its Western allies, including more than half a billion in new military equipment that Germany pledged on Monday.
How much aid will continue to flow from the US once President-elect Donald Trump takes office remains to be seen.
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Meanwhile, Russia has more weapons, more ammunition and more personnel – but the pressure on its economy and population is mounting.
Russia has significantly increased its military spending over the past two years, and its economy is showing signs of overheating: inflation is high and companies are facing labor shortages.
Trying to control the situation, Russia’s central bank raised interest rates to 21 percent in October, the highest in decades.
North Korea has recently sent an influx of troops to help Russia fight on the front lines.
The staggering sums that countries spend on their defense
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The Ukrainian government said last month that about 11,000 North Korean troops were in Kursk.
Some of Russia’s weapons are also North Korean, accounting for nearly a third of the ballistic missiles fired at Ukraine this year, according to Ukrainian defense officials and CNN’s strike list.
North Korean troops may assist Russian efforts for a time – but material losses may be harder to recoup.
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