Russia's official military spending on its war against Ukraine in 2026 amounts to approximately $144.4 billion, more than three times its combined spending on education and healthcare, according to Ukraine's Defence Intelligence (DIU).
"In 2026, Russia's national defence budget amounts to 12.121 trillion roubles (approximately $144.4 billion). Including a broader range of war-related expenditures, the figure reaches 14.886 trillion roubles ($177.4 billion). The classified portion of Russia's so-called defence budget is estimated at 9.187 trillion roubles (approximately $109.5 billion)," DIU reported.
Moscow has allocated a total of 15.929 billion roubles ($189.8 million) to supporting the development of its military-industrial complex, military-technical cooperation, and scientific and production programmes. These allocations include 6.167 billion roubles ($73.5 million), 6.310 billion roubles ($75.2 million) and 3.452 billion roubles ($41.1 million), respectively.
Additional budget funding has been allocated to support Russian defence enterprises, including 2.054 billion roubles ($24.5 million) for cost compensation, 463 million roubles ($5.5 million) to prevent bankruptcies, 500 million roubles ($6 million) to subsidise loan interest payments, and 1.5 billion roubles ($17.9 million) in compensation payments to employees.
Another 1.25 billion roubles ($14.9 million) has been allocated to high-performance computing required for weapons development. According to DIU, these calculations are performed in data centres, including on Yandex supercomputers and Sberbank's computing infrastructure.
Ukrainian intelligence stressed that the involvement of these facilities means the companies' infrastructure contributes to Russia's military operations against Ukraine.
Moscow has also allocated 26.178 billion roubles (approximately $312 million) to applied defence research.
Funding for the development and production of various types of drones amounts to 10.233 billion roubles ($121.9 million). However, DIU noted that this figure does not reflect the actual size of the market, which is significantly larger when private investment and procurement are taken into account.
For example, Russia has allocated 687.6 billion roubles (approximately $8.19 billion) for drone procurement for the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia).
"The purchased drones are intended for use not only on the front line of Russia's war against Ukraine but also inside Russia — to protect critical infrastructure, patrol cities, monitor Russian citizens and suppress potential protests. Moscow is strengthening its security forces to maintain strict control over the Russian population," DIU stated.
Overall, according to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia's official defence expenditure in 2026, estimated at $144.4 billion, is more than three times its combined spending on education ($21 billion) and healthcare ($22.5 billion).
"$144.4 billion is an enormous sum, comparable to the cost of constructing the International Space Station, estimated at approximately $150 billion, or building more than 150 modern cancer treatment centres in Russia," DIU concluded.
