Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a record-breaking defense budget, setting aside a staggering third of the government’s total spending as the war in Ukraine drains resources from both sides nearly three years on.
The budget for 2025, which was published Sunday, allocates about $126 billion (13.5 trillion rubles) to national defense – amounting to 32.5% of government spending.
The defense budget is about $28 billion (three trillion rubles) higher than the previous record set this year.
The new three-year budget forecasts 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 making gains at key spots along the front lines and fighting a counteroffensive in the Kursk region – the site of Kyiv’s only major military success this year.
But the slow, grinding war – often called a war of attrition, where both sides are trying to wear down the other – has drained both countries’ resources.
