MOSCOW: Russia will spend 5.1 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on the war in Ukraine in 2025, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said on Wednesday, providing the first official estimate of how much the conflict will cost the state budget this year.
Based on the Economy Ministry’s 2025 GDP estimate of 217 trillion roubles (USD2.70 trillion), war expenditure will amount to 11 trillion roubles. Belousov said the defence ministry’s total spending in 2025, including non-war-related items, amounted to 7.3 percent of GDP.
The Russian state budget allocated 6.2 percent of GDP to “national defence” in 2025 and another 1.8 percent to “national security”, with the total amount for defence and security set at 17 trillion roubles. Belousov, an economist appointed by President Vladimir Putin to replace Sergei Shoigu in 2024 amid battlefield failures and corruption scandals, said that the ministry had faced severe budget restrictions in 2025 and had to cut costs.
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