Russia's military spending is expected to reach a record this year after President Putin ordered an additional near $60 bln to the defence budget, pushing projected defence outlays to about 17 tln rubles (≈$199 bln) by year-end, two sources close to the government said. The budget increase followed Putin's late‑year decision to sharply raise war spending after concluding talks in Alaska with the US were unlikely to produce an acceptable end‑of‑war agreement. The projected 2024 outlays are roughl

Russia's military spending is expected to reach a record this year after President Putin ordered an additional near $60 bln to the defence budget, pushing projected defence outlays to about 17 tln rubles (≈$199 bln) by year-end, two sources close to the government said. The budget increase followed Putin's late‑year decision to sharply raise war spending after concluding talks in Alaska with the US were unlikely to produce an acceptable end‑of‑war agreement. The projected 2024 outlays are roughly 40% above the government's initially published end‑2025 budget plan and are close to the military spending level set in the new budget officials released last week.