Russia spends 43.4 billion rubles a day on the war – that's 1.9 billion an hour: the military-industrial complex has become a "black hole" for the budget – SVRU

Russia’s expenditures for the first nine months of 2025 reached a record 11.8 trillion rubles. The Kremlin is replicating the Soviet model, where colossal military spending yields no economic return. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, writes UNN.

DetailsCompared to the pre-war year of 2021, the military budget has almost quadrupled. Currently, the war costs Russian taxpayers 43.4 billion rubles per day (1.9 billion per hour). The Kremlin spends 44% of all collected federal taxes on the army, which effectively paralyzes civilian sectors.

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The total cost of the invasion has already reached 542 billion dollars. This amount is equivalent to 24 years of funding for all higher education in Russia or 22 years of federal healthcare expenditures.

Despite increased production, the Russian military-industrial complex does not create growth, but only absorbs resources. The model of “military survival” displaces investments in technology and the social sphere, cementing economic degradation and chronic fiscal risks, similar to the late USSR.

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