Russia has set aside RUB 11.1 trillion (about US$137.8 billion) in its 2025 budget for what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Source: Russian journalists of Faridaily, an independent news newsletter on Substack

Details: The Russian Defence Ministry has, for the first time, disclosed budget spending "directly linked to the special military operation".

They say the figures, included in a presentation by Russia's Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, show the costs reaching 5.1% of Russia's GDP in 2025.

Until now, only overall federal budget spending under the heading of National Defence has been available. That category can include not only day-to-day costs but also spending on developing new weapons, construction, etc..

Latest data from Russia's Finance Ministry says RUB 13.5 trillion ($167.7 billion) has been spent on "National Defence" in 2025. This means roughly 82% of that sum has been spent directly on the war against Ukraine.

Belousov put the Defence Ministry's total budget this year at 7.3% of GDP. He said spending not linked to the war against Ukraine has been cut in 2025 from 2.7% to 2.2% of GDP.

Background: The Russian government expects the federal budget to remain in deficit over the next 20 years. This follows a forecast published by the Russian government running to 2042.

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