Russia’s attack on Ukraine on January 20 cost as much as the annual budget of a Russian city

Russia’s massive missile and drone strike on Ukraine on the night of January 20 cost $131 million – comparable to the annual budget of the Russian city of Veliky Novgorod.

This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

According to the GUR, during the attack, Russian troops used 372 pieces of weapons. In particular, the Russian Federation launched Iskander ballistic missiles, Zircon hypersonic missiles, Kh-101 cruise missiles, RM-48U training missiles, as well as Geran, Harpy, and Gerbera drones.

The intelligence agency noted that, for comparison, Veliky Novgorod, with a population of about 220,000, lives on just $131 million each year. This also corresponds to almost a third of the annual budget of individual regions of the Russian Federation, in particular Kalmykia and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

The GUR emphasized that these funds could be used to build a modern, fully equipped oncology center or implement hundreds of regional and national social projects.

At the same time, intelligence has drawn attention to the fact that such spending on strikes on Ukrainian cities is taking place against the backdrop of a record budget deficit in the Russian Federation. Last year, it reached 5.6 trillion rubles, or about $70 billion, which is approximately 2.6% of the country’s GDP.

It was previously reported that on the night of Tuesday, January 20, Russia carried out another attack on Kyiv.

Recall that after the nighttime Russian attack on Kyiv on January 20, during which missiles and drones were used, more than 5,600 multi-story buildings were left without heat supply.