Russia’s expenses on war in Ukraine exceed $160 bln – Forbes

During nearly two years of Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, the state budget allocated $167.3 billion to prolong the armed aggression, according to Forbes data.

Russia spends about $300 million daily on the war against Ukraine, while the state budget spent more in January-June 2023 than it planned for the entire year 2023.

Despite this, the Kremlin is doubling its military budget, as the cost of equipping a Russian soldier is getting lower.

Based on the AFU General Staff, direct military spending does not include permanent defense expenditures unrelated to military operations or economic losses of the aggressor country.

Russia's expenses on war included:

• support for military operations ($51.3 billion),
• military salaries ($35.1 billion),
• compensation to the families of the dead ($25.6 billion),
• the wounded ($21 billion),
• the cost of destroyed equipment ($34 billion).

After the rapid fall of the ruble currency, the "Russian soldier" budget has significantly decreased. Russia plans to allocate 33% of its yearly budget to army supplies despite that.

The cost of compensation to the wounded and killed soldiers is decreasing, too. Russia's government could afford $110,000, but today the cost decreased to $65,000.

The level of Russian casualties in recent months has remained much higher than last year, which is why Russia is forced to spend more on casualty compensation.

In June, British intelligence reported that Russia's military spending budget this year was about $85.8 billion).