Economist assessed Russia's spending on the war against Ukraine.

Real expenses of Russia on the war against Ukraine exceed the amounts laid out in the state budget. This was stated by the executive director of the Economic Discussion Club, Oleg Penzin.

Russia plans to allocate over 13 trillion rubles from the state budget for defense costs, which accounts for more than a third of all budget expenditures and is a record amount.

"When we talk about expenses for the war, for the military-industrial complex, for maintaining the armed forces, about a third of the budget allocated for military needs is the marginal value that ensures balance in the civilian market. Increasing these expenses will automatically lead to a deficit of goods and services in the civilian sector,"

It is noted that the structure of the economy and the level of consumption in different regions of the Russian Federation vary significantly.

"In mass media, one-Time payments to contractors are often mentioned. For example, in some regions, this amount is 25-28 thousand dollars. Total contracts for budget payers are 450 thousand Russian rubles. The rest of the money is paid from local budgets. This does not relate to central budget military expenses but is directed to the Russian army,"

The expert emphasized that this is only part of the war costs. The rest of the expenses are directed from the country's budget, spending of production associations, and other directions related to the army.

"So, we are talking only about part of the military expenses, and in reality, they are significantly larger. These funds flow into completely different directions than improving the living standards of citizens and developing infrastructure,"