Russia's military spending in 2026 approaches record $200 billion - Bloomberg
Russia's actual military spending in 2026 may approach 17 trillion rubles, or about $200 billion. This is about 40% more than Moscow planned to spend at the beginning of the year, and it will be a new record since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine.
Bloomberg reports this, citing two interlocutors close to the Russian government. According to them, almost $60 billion was actually added to military spending over the year compared to the initial plan.
The sharp increase in funding means that Russia's spending on military needs in 2026 will almost reach the level that the government officially plans only for the next year. The draft budget for 2027 provides for 17.1 trillion rubles for these purposes.
At the same time, the exact amount of current military spending is classified. In late September, Reuters, after reviewing budget documents, reported that the initial plan for 2026 was about 12.1 trillion rubles. Part of war-related expenditures may also be covered under other budget items. For 2027-2029, Moscow plans a total of about 50 trillion rubles in military spending.
According to Bloomberg sources, the Kremlin began accelerating defense industry funding in early 2026. The Russian authorities, as the agency's interlocutors claim, concluded that negotiations mediated by the US would not lead to an agreement on terms acceptable to Moscow, after which they increased advance payments to defense industry enterprises and other war-related expenses.
Rising military spending has sharply worsened the state of Russian public finances. The 2026 federal budget deficit estimate was increased to about 7.3 trillion rubles, or 3.2% of GDP. The initial plan provided for only about 3.8 trillion rubles, or 1.6% of GDP. Total federal spending this year is now estimated at about 48.6 trillion rubles, compared to 44.1 trillion rubles in the previous plan.
To cover the deficit, Moscow is increasing domestic borrowing and using reserves. According to budget documents, the 2026 net borrowing plan was raised by about 26% - to 5 trillion rubles. At the same time, the forecast for oil and gas revenues was reduced from 8.9 to 7.6 trillion rubles.
A sharp reduction in military spending in the coming years is also not expected. After 17.1 trillion rubles in 2027, Moscow plans about 16.6 trillion rubles in 2028 and 16.3 trillion rubles in 2029. Thus, even the official budget horizon envisages maintaining funding for the army near record levels for at least several years.
The new data significantly clarifies the picture for the current year: previously, mostly Russia's plans for 2027-2029 were known, while Russia's actual volume of military spending for 2026 is not disclosed by the Russian authorities. Bloomberg now estimates it almost at the level of the next record budget.
