In 2026, Russia allocated 12.1 trillion rubles ($144.4 billion) for so-called "national defense," more than three times the combined spending on education and healthcare. Taking into account other expenses related to the war against Ukraine, Russia’s military budget amounts to nearly $177.4 billion. This was reported by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR), UNN writes.
In 2026, the budget item of the aggressor state Russia for "national defense" amounts to 12.121 trillion rubles (approximately $144.4 billion), while taking into account the broader range of expenditures related to waging the criminal war against Ukraine, the figure is 14.886 trillion rubles ($177.4 billion). The classified portion of Russia’s so-called "defense" budget is estimated at 9.187 trillion rubles (approximately $109.5 billion)
Moscow has allocated a total of 15.929 billion rubles ($189.8 million) to stimulate the development of the military-industrial complex, military-technical cooperation, and the implementation of research and production programs: 6.167 billion rubles ($73.5 million), 6.310 billion ($75.2 million), and 3.452 billion ($41.1 million), respectively, for each of the three expenditure items.
In addition, additional budget funds have been allocated separately to support Russian defense-industry enterprises: 2.054 billion rubles ($24.5 million) to compensate expenses, 463 million rubles ($5.5 million) to prevent bankruptcies, 500 million rubles ($6 million) to compensate interest on loans, and 1.5 billion rubles ($17.9 million) for compensation payments to employees.
Another 1.25 billion rubles ($14.9 million) has been allocated for high-performance computing needed to develop weapons systems. Such computations are performed in data centers, including on the supercomputers of Yandex and the computing facilities of Sberbank. Thus, the infrastructure of these companies is being used in the armed aggression against Ukraine.
Moscow has allocated 26.178 billion rubles (approximately $312 million) for applied defense research.
Russia has earmarked 10.233 billion rubles ($121.9 million) for the development and production of various types of drones. This amount does not reflect the actual financial volume of the market — it is considerably larger when so-called private investments and procurement are taken into account.
For example, the aggressor state has allocated 687.6 billion rubles (approximately $8.19 billion) to purchase UAVs for the Russian National Guard. The purchased drones are planned to be used not only on the front line of the criminal war against Ukraine, but also inside Russia — to protect critical infrastructure, patrol cities, monitor Russians, and suppress potential protests. Thus, Moscow is strengthening the security forces in order to keep the Russian population under strict control
Overall, Russia’s official expenditures on the genocidal war against Ukraine in 2026 ($144.4 billion) are more than three times greater than the combined funding for education ($21 billion) and healthcare ($22.5 billion).
$144.4 billion is an enormous sum, comparable to the cost of creating the International Space Station (approximately $150 billion) or building more than 150 modern oncology centers in Russia