Almost three months into its invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s defence expenditure has reached over $300 million per day, according to a report released by the Russian Finance Ministry on Tuesday.
The Moscow Times reported that the country spent over $24.6 billion between January and April this year, which was triple the amount spent on education, more than double on health, and ten times the funds dispensed for environmental conservation and management. Moscow spent $3.4 billion on defence in January, followed by $5.4 billion in February, $6.6 billion in March, and $9.2 billion in April. In this respect, the country’s defence spending has more than doubled compared to April 2021, when it was about $4.3 billion.
Втрати ворога в інфографіці 👇@armyinformcomua pic.twitter.com/huy8Kvpmx4
— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 19, 2022
According to Reuters, the Finance Ministry had expected a budget surplus of 1% this year, but now forecasts a deficit of at least $25 billion. The government plans to use the country’s National Wealth Fund (NWF), which was built over the years with its gas and oil incomes, to offset the deficit. However, a part of the NWF was invested in the financial markets that saw a loss of $20 billion between February and April, plummeting to $155 billion.
The cost of the Ukraine invasion continues to increase, as Russia has failed to topple the Ukrainian government or capture major cities.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, Russia has suffered heavy losses of men and equipment with over 28,500 armed soldiers dead, along with over 1,200 tanks, almost 600 artillery systems, 93 anti-aircraft warfare systems, 203 aircrafts, 167 helicopters, more than 450 unmanned aerial vehicles, 103 cruise missiles, 13 warships and 43 special equipment been destroyed since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion. Moreover, earlier this month, Ukrainian officials told The New York Times that approximately 12 Russian generals have been killed on the battlefront as a result of Ukrainian forces acting on United States (US) intelligence.
In March, a close aide of President Vladimir Putin, Viktor Zolotov, who is also the National Guard chief and a member of Putin’s security council, admitted that the progress in Ukraine’s military operation was slower than expected.
“I would like to say that yes, not everything is going as fast as we would like,” he said, adding, “But we are going towards our goal step by step and victory will be for us.” However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refuted the claims by saying, “All the plans of the Russian leadership will be achieved on time and in full.
Similarly, in March, Russia said only 1,300 of its soldiers had died, though it hasn’t given an official update since.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 19 May 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) May 19, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/qqKi2Uagzx
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/1JYJHtSWRT
Shortly after Russia failed to capture the capital Kyiv and had to retreat from the north, it decided to focus on seizing territories in eastern Ukraine. However, the strong Ukrainian counter-attack has slowed down its approach after gaining control of Rubizhne and Popasna recently. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russians have been pushed back from Izyum, but are trying to surround Severodonetsk.
Moreover, the Russian army could not capture Odesa, as they faced a solid struggle at Mykolaiv in the west and had to withdraw to Kherson. Though Russia had captured Snake Island in the Black Sea in February, the Ukrainian forces managed to successfully target them with constant airstrikes, apart from sinking their flagship naval vessel Moskva last month.
In fact, the sinking of the Moskva left such an impression on Russia that Putin reportedly completely abandoned plans to reach a diplomatic consensus with Ukraine and instead turned his focus to gathering more territory.
Despite facing stiff resistance, Russia managed to take control of the southern port city of Mariupol following the surrender of the Azov regiment holed up at the Azovstal steel plant this week. Russia now has clear access to southern and eastern Ukraine, and a direct land connection between the Donbas region and Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014. However, the Ukrainian forces pushed back the Russian forces around the second-largest city of Kharkiv in the north in a counter-attack. A senior US administration official claimed that Ukrainian soldiers are now within three to four kilometres from the Russian border.
Analysts believe that such heavy losses have affected the morale of the Russian forces, which was already low since the beginning. “Losses like this affect morale and unit cohesion, especially since these soldiers don’t understand why they’re fighting,” said Evelyn Farkas, a top Pentagon official for Russia and Ukraine during the Obama administration.
In an extremely rare moment of candour on Russian state TV today, defence columnist Mikhail Khodaryonok gave a damning assessment of Russia's war in Ukraine and his country's international isolation. It's fairly long but worth your time so I've added subtitles. pic.twitter.com/0mr7WAgSx6
— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) May 16, 2022
In fact, in March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that some Russian soldiers “refuse to go back to Russia.” According to the British Ministry of Defence, Russia has fired many of its generals in light of the current failures on the battlefield. “This will likely place further strain on Russia's centralised model of command and control, as officers increasingly seek to defer key decisions to their superiors. It will be difficult for Russia to regain the initiative under these conditions,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, over a 1,000 multinational corporates from various sectors have exited or severely cut their operations in Russia since the start of the Ukraine war. Furthermore, in light of the Russian economy reeling under the pressure due to western sanctions, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine recently claimed in a Facebook post that Russia’s political and economic elite are considering removing President Vladimir Putin, and restore economic ties with the West.