With the money of pensioners and veterans: Russia cuts social spending to finance the war

Regional authorities in Russia are cutting funding for social programs, redirecting funds to payments to military personnel and their families.

This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation.

In particular, the authorities of the Tula region took away more than 54 million rubles ($637,000) that were intended for social support for the population and directed this money to payments to military personnel. As a result, funding for payments to adoptive parents for the maintenance of orphans, as well as assistance to low-income families, pensioners, and labor veterans was reduced.

Even more significant cuts are planned in St. Petersburg, where government officials are proposing to reduce budget expenditures by 70.2 billion rubles ($828 million). In particular, they are talking about reducing funding for education, healthcare, and housing and communal services.

At the same time, expenditures for payments to participants in the war against Ukraine and their family members are planned to be increased by an additional 6.4 billion rubles ($75.5 million).

Such decisions are being made against the backdrop of significant local budget deficits. As a result, Russian regions are redistributing funds from social programs to finance the war.

It was previously reported that Russia plans to sharply increase defense spending in 2027 to 17.1 trillion rubles, or about $202.6 billion. This will be the highest figure since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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