Russia is spending 1.5 times more on the war than it officially claims, according to German intelligence.

Russia spends half of its state budget on military needs.

Last year, Russia spent about half of its state budget on military needs , although the actual expenditure is much higher than stated in official reports.

According to The Telegraph , citing a report by Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), Russia’s actual defense spending is 66 percent higher than officially reported, with spending rising sharply every year since the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Thus, according to the analysis, the Kremlin’s actual military spending in 2025 amounted to approximately 250 billion euros, equivalent to roughly half of total government spending and about 10 percent of the country’s GDP. At the beginning of the war, military spending amounted to approximately 6 percent of GDP.

“German intelligence stated that these funds are being used not only to support the war in Ukraine, but also to expand military capabilities beyond the battlefield, particularly along Russia’s borders with NATO countries in the east of the country,” the article notes.

The report said the figures “clearly demonstrate the growing threat to Europe emanating from Russia.”

It is noted that most of the additional expenses, including construction projects, military IT programs and social payments to military personnel, were hidden in other items of the state budget.

Russia uses a much narrower definition of defense spending than NATO, and the Kremlin also systematically distorts official data, the BND said:

“Moscow’s 2026 budget plans, published last fall, assumed defense spending would be cut for the first time since the war began. However, the official figure of 13 trillion rubles is significantly lower than what German analysts believe the Kremlin is actually spending.”

Rising war costs and falling energy export revenues have forced the Russian government to cut social security spending and raise VAT, creating a massive budget deficit estimated at more than $70 billion.

(c)UNIAN 2026