Defense spending will account for almost one-third of Russia's total budget expenditure in 2024, the government's draft plans show, as Moscow diverts ever more resources towards prosecuting its war in Ukraine.
Russia also plans to ramp up state borrowing to help fund what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine in the coming years and is counting on a recovery in oil and gas revenues to pre-invasion levels to do so.
Spending under the "national defense" section of Russia's budget will total 10.78 trillion rubles ($109 billion) next year, or 29.4% of total planned expenditure of 36.66 trillion rubles, according to the finance ministry's budget documents that outline the government's fiscal plans for 2024 to 2026.