Russian Military Budget
As reported by ArmyInform, the Russian government expected that by the end of 2025, the Russian budget deficit will reach a record 5.7 trillion rubles (about $68 billion), which, according to Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, indicates that the aggressor's economy can no longer withstand huge military expenditures.
The draft budget’s “National Defence” line was set at ˜ 12.9 trillion rubles (~ US$155 billion) for 2026. Combined “defence + national security” spending was projected at ˜ 16.8 trillion rubles for 2026 (~US$183 billion) in one estimate. Another source reports the planned figure as ~13 trillion rubles (~US$157 billion) for defence alone. As a share of GDP, defence + security spending was expected to be around 7-8% of GDP in 2026. Actual military spending often exceeds targets and may be hidden within other budget items.A large portion (around 80 %+) of Russia’s defence-related spending was classified, making external verification difficult.
Restating Russia’s 2026 defense budget in market exchange rate (MER) and purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, provides a fuller picture of its real scale. At market exchange rates, the draft “national defense” allocation of about 12.9–13 trillion rubles equates to roughly US $150–160 billion in 2026, assuming an exchange rate near R82–85 per U.S. dollar. This is the figure typically cited in Western defense and financial reports and aligns with SIPRI or IISS conventions. However, that conversion only measures what those rubles are worth on world currency markets, not what they can actually buy inside Russia’s domestic economy.
When recalculated at purchasing power parity, which adjusts for Russia’s lower domestic price levels, the same 12.9–13 trillion rubles translates to around US $440–490 billion (international dollars). The World Bank’s GDP-PPP conversion factor for Russia, hovering between 26 and 29 rubles per international dollar, yields that range. If one includes “national security” expenditures—another roughly 3–4 trillion rubles—the combined total might reach US $580–640 billion (PPP). These numbers are far larger than the market-rate figures because military labor, logistics, and construction costs are substantially cheaper in local currency terms than in Western economies.
That said, the uncertainty bands around these estimates are wide. Russia’s defense budget is notoriously opaque—more than eighty percent of outlays are now classified—and the government often hides military spending in other categories such as “national economy” or “state secrets.” The figures we are using come from a draft 2026 budget, which the Duma still must approve and which may understate true expenditures once emergency funds or covert procurement are included. Moreover, the PPP factor itself is derived from general consumer and investment baskets, not from a “military-specific” price structure; the cost of imported precision electronics or jet engines, for instance, cannot be measured at domestic ruble prices and must ultimately be paid in hard currency.
Understanding the distinction between MER and PPP is important because it changes how one interprets Russia’s defense effort. At market exchange rates, Russia appears to spend less than one-quarter of U.S. defense outlays, suggesting a much smaller military capacity. In PPP terms, however, its domestic defense burden is roughly half the size of the U.S. budget when adjusted for local purchasing power. That does not mean Russia’s military is half as capable—the efficiency of spending, technology levels, and logistics chains differ—but it does highlight that the ruble buys far more manpower, fuel, and construction than a dollar does. In short, PPP provides a more realistic sense of how much real military input Russia can generate at home, while MER remains the better gauge for imported or foreign-exchange-dependent components.
In conclusion, using official draft data, Russia’s 2026 defense spending of R12.9–13 trillion equates to about US $150–160 billion at market rates or roughly US $440–490 billion (PPP)—and potentially US $580–640 billion (PPP) if one includes internal security. The true number will depend on hidden transfers, future inflation, and the final approved budget, but the PPP comparison underscores why Russia’s defense sector can sustain a large war economy even with a weaker currency.
Putin on 01 December 2024 approved Russia's budget for 2025, with revenues of more than 40 trillion rubles. About 32.5% of the russian budget was allocated for "defense" – 13.5 trillion rubles (over $145 billion). For comparison, in 2024, Russia allocated 28.3% of the budget for "defense".
Richard Connolly, a specialist on the Russian economy at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, suggested in August 2023 that military spending this year will far exceed $100 billion. He said that before the war Russia would typically splash around 3-4% of its annual gross domestic product on defense but now it could be anywhere between 8% and 10%. By one estimate, in 2025, Russia planned to allocate about 40% of its budget to national security and military aims, which totals around 150 billion euros.
By August 2023, Russia had doubled its 2023 defence spending target to more than $100 billion - a third of all public expenditure - a government document reviewed by Reuters showed, as the costs of the war in Ukraine spiral and place growing strain on Moscow's finances. Russia spent 2 trillion roubles ($26 billion) on defence in January and February 2023 alone, a 282% jump on the same period a year ago, data on the budget portal showed, illustrating the spiralling costs for Moscow of its conflict in Ukraine. According to the new data, defence spending amounted to 1.18 trillion roubles in January and 822.4 billion roubles in February. State defence contracts had been a key driver in Russia's economic recovery to GDP growth in 2023, after a 2.1% contraction in 2022.
Russia spent almost 1 trillion roubles on military salaries in the first half of 2023, 543 billion roubles more than in the same period in 2022. Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said in July 2023 that the defence industry was now producing more munitions each month than it did in the whole of 2022.
“We have no funding restrictions,” Russia’s President Vladimir Putin told a gathering of military top brass in December 2022. “The country, the government will provide whatever the army asks for.” Eighteen months into his war in Ukraine, Putin seemed to be keeping that promise.
Russia's defense spending as a percentage of GDP averaged 2.62% between 2018 and 2022. In 2022, military expenditures may have exceeded 5% of GDP, the maximum since the collapse of the USSR. In 2023, Russia's military spending budget was around 6.6 trillion rubles, which was about $85.8 billion. This represents about 4.4% of the country's forecast gross domestic product. Russia's defense spending has ranged from 13.9% to 23% of its budget between 2011 and 2022.
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