A conscripted man receives a gun from the Russian army in a village on the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia on the 24th (local time). Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on the 21st that 300,000 reserve forces would be mobilized in part for the Ukraine war. [타스 = 연합뉴스]After Russian President Vladimir Putin called a partial ‘military mobilization order’ into effect for the first time since the end of the Second World War, he is following a plan to increase defense spending by 43% next year from the original plan.
According to Russia’s three-year fiscal plan obtained by Bloomberg on the 23rd (local time), the defense budget for next year is expected to reach 5 trillion rubles (about 119 trillion won), which is more than 43 % higher than the original budget. . Accordingly, the share of defense spending as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to reach 3.3%, the second largest after social security programs. In the previous plan, the defense budget for next year was set at 3.473 trillion rubles, or 2.4% of GDP, which is expected to decrease from 3.2% this year. Education and culture expenditure is almost frozen, and the environmental budget is expected to decrease by 25% compared to the initial budget.
“Because the war in Ukraine is protracted and costly, we are likely to spend more on military spending over the next two years than originally planned as Russia adjusts its budget to meet its needs,” Bloomberg said. “This fiscal plan, approved by the government on the 22nd, will be completed after approval by the House and Senate and the president’s signature,” he said. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia was one of the five largest defense spending countries in the world last year.
It appears that the recent unfavorable war situation has contributed to a larger than expected increase in Russia’s defense spending. After the Ukrainian army launched a large-scale counter-offensive in the eastern Donbas and southern Kherson regions, retaking significant territory, and the Russian army on the defensive, Russia announced that reserve forces would be mobilized on the 21st to turn the tide . Of the total of 25 million reserve forces, 300,000 will be sent to war. According to the budget plan, the cost of calling up the army is estimated at 16 billion rubles (about 400 billion won) next year, and 16.5 billion rubles (about 410 billion won) per year from 2024 to 2025 .
According to Bloomberg, a military mobilization and increased defense spending would be even more devastating to Russia’s sluggish economy. In particular, a reduction in energy supply to Europe could adversely affect Russia’s finances. Russian economist Aleksandr Isakov said the mobilization ordinance could temporarily hurt economic growth.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is making waves by suggesting the possibility of using nuclear weapons.
According to Reuters on the 24th, Minister Lavrov said at a press conference after addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York on the same day, when he was asked if there was any basis for Russia to use nuclear weapons to defend the area which annexed it from Ukraine, “the future constitution of Russia” All the territories of Russia, including those specified in addition in the , are under the full protection of the State. It suggested the possibility of using nuclear weapons to defend annexed areas in the future.
“All laws, doctrines, concepts and strategies of the Russian Federation apply to all territories,” Lavrov continued, emphasizing Russian military doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons. Russian military doctrine means that the use of nuclear weapons is permitted in case the existence of a state is threatened by a military attack by the enemy. In four Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, including Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, Zaporiza province and Kherson, referenda have been held for five days starting on the 23rd, asking whether or not they would agree to the incorporation of Russia .
His comments are a continuation of Putin and his closest aide Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council, warned on the 22nd that Russia could use all its weapons, including strategic nuclear weapons, to defend the annexed territory of Ukraine for it to be resolved
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