Russian governors have doubled defense spending since the start of the full-scale war

An employee of the Russian State Guard. Illustrative photo from duma.gov.ru website

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the heads of Russian regions began to spend almost twice as much on personal security compared to 2021.

Source: the Russian publication “Vedomosti” with reference to tender management system data “Tenderplan”

Literally media: “Since the beginning of the special operation (this is what the Russians call a full-scale war against Ukraine, – ed.) in 2022, the governors began to spend more on ensuring their security: in 2021, regional budget expenditures amounted to a total of 59.7 million rubles (approximately 770 thousand dollars), and in 2022 – already 91.6 million rubles (approximately 1.2 million dollars)”.

Details: “Vedomosti” also adds that a greater number of heads of Russian regions have thought about hiring bodyguards since the start of hostilities, as indicated by the increase in the number of tenders for security published on the state procurement website: in 2021 there were 8 tenders, and in 2022 – already 13.

It is clarified that the second year of the full-scale invasion became a record for spending on the security of the governors – in 2023, 119.7 million rubles were spent. ($1.5 million). In 2024, the amount of expenses amounted to 104.5 million rubles. (1.35 million dollars), in 2025 – 112.4 million rubles. ($1.45 million).

According to state procurement statistics, the most popular services are the protection of governors in border regions.

“The administration of the head of the region and the government is ready to allocate 8.4 million rubles ($108.5 thousand) for the protection of the head of the Bryansk region, according to the tender published on the state procurement website in 2025,” the newspaper writes.

According to “Tenderplan”, in 2023 (purchases were made in 2022), 7.7 million rubles were spent on the protection of the head of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratiev. ($99.5 thousand), and for the protection of the then governor of the Rostov region Vasyl Golubev – 11.4 million rubles. ($147.3 thousand).

Also, large sums are allocated for the protection of the head of the Moscow region Andrii Vorobyov – 7.8 million rubles. (100.8 thousand dollars) and Ihor Babushkin of the Astrakhan region – 10.4 million rubles. ($134.4 thousand).

Why it matters: The reason why Russian governors were concerned about personal security could be that with the beginning of a full-scale war, there were more frequent attacks on collaborators in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, Russian propagandists, and Russian military leadership in the territory of the Russian Federation.

In particular, in May 2023 in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod Region, an Audi car driven by Ukrainophobe, writer and member of the “Just Russia” party Zakhar Prilepin was blown up. It was reported that he received “severe injuries”. Before that, they wrote that Prilepin allegedly “signed a contract with the Russian Guard” and “went to fight in Ukraine.”

In December 2024, Lieutenant General Igor Kirilov and his aide were killed in an explosion in Moscow, before which the SBU informed the general about the suspicion in absentia.

In April 2025, a car exploded in the city of Balashikha, which borders the Russian capital Moscow, as a result of which the lieutenant general of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Yaroslav Moskalyk, died.

In December 2025, a car was blown up in Moscow with the head of the Operational Training Department of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, who participated in the war against Ukraine, and he died.

The Akhtubinsk airfield is located in the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation, which is home to Moscow’s most modern Su-57 fighters capable of using Kh-59 and Kh-69 missiles for strikes. This airfield was repeatedly attacked.

Also in the Astrakhan region is the “Kapustin Yar” training ground, where the Russians have placed the “Oreshnik” complex, which has already been used in Ukraine – on the Dnipro and Lviv regions. It was also under attack by the Armed Forces.

Military factories are located in the capital region of the Russian Federation, which are also a legitimate target of Ukrainian drones. In particular, UAVs have already attacked the drone development plant, an important object of the Russian aggressor’s military-industrial complex – the Rezonit technology park and the Raduga plant, which produces cruise missiles.