By Bloomberg News | Updated on Oct 09, 2026 at 05:49 PM
Russia’s federal budget spending increased 14.5% in the first nine months of the year amid the Kremlin’s intensifying war on Ukraine.
Expenditures in the period rose to 34.8 trillion rubles ($409 billion) from 30.4 trillion rubles a year earlier, according to Finance Ministry data published Friday. The budget shortfall was 5.19 trillion rubles, or 2.2% of gross domestic product, it said.
The figures reflect the escalating cost of the war in Ukraine, now well into its fifth year, and how spending on the invasion coupled with weaker revenue is straining public finances. War-related spending alone is set reach 17 trillion rubles this year, about 40% higher than the original plan announced by the government at the end of 2025.
Read More: Putin Is Spending a Record $200 Billion on the War This Year
That’s putting pressure on the budget, and causing the deficit to widen. The Finance Ministry projects the shortfall to end the year at 7.35 trillion rubles, or 3.2% of gross domestic product and nearly double the 3.8-trillion gap initially planned.
The Finance Ministry recorded its highest spending in March and April, with outlays reaching roughly 4.7 trillion rubles each month. The elevated spending early in the year was driven in part by extensive advance payments for government contracts and public procurement.
Spending eased after that, and was around 3.19 trillion rubles in August, when Russia posted its biggest monthly budget surplus in a year.
The Bank of Russia, meanwhile, has cautioned that elevated levels of government spending may limit policymakers’ room to lower borrowing costs.