Russia's budget enables it to continue the war on the same scale

The military budget approved by Russian President Putin for next year will enable Russia to continue the war against Ukraine on the same scale.

This was stated by the head of the intelligence center of the Estonian Defense Forces Ants Kiviselg, Ukrinform reports with reference to ERаR.

According to Kiviselg, in 2023 the Russian defense spending budget has increased to 100 billion euros, which is about a third of all government spending. In 2024, it will remain at about the same level, and in 2025-26 it will decrease slightly.

The head of the intelligence center of the Estonian Defense Forces stated that already in the first half of the year, the Russian armed forces exceeded the amounts provided for in the defense budget by 10%, therefore an additional budget was approved.

"All this allows Russia to continue the war (in Ukraine - ed.) with the current intensity. But this will happen at the expense of a significant reduction in the services and welfare of Russian civil society," Kiviselg said.

The head of the intelligence center also gave an assessment of the situation at the front, which, according to him, has not changed significantly in a week. Kiviselg added that the Armed Forces continue to resist Russian troops on the southern outskirts of Avdiyivka and at the same time conduct counterattacks, keeping the area under their control. According to him, the Armed Forces of Ukraine were able to hold the recaptured territories on the left bank of the Dnieper, and the Russian Federation began additional mining of possible directions of the Ukrainian offensive.

"Apparently, the Russian Federation will not be able to make an operational breakthrough in Ukraine in the near future. However, in the coming weeks, Russia will probably increase the intensity of attacks on the critically important infrastructure of Ukraine - the energy system, transport, enterprises, warehouses, telecommunications centers," he said.

According to Kivilseg, the purpose of such attacks is to break the spirit of Ukrainians and provoke social discontent, which can affect the political landscape of Ukraine or cause disputes in society, as well as "to divert attention from external threats to the internal situation, looking for possible misalignments, and strengthening them".

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 02/12/2023