Russia’s spending on its war against Ukraine is expected to exceed this year’s budget by 2 trillion rubles ($28 billion), according to a report citing an internal government document. The Financial Times report, published on Friday, May 29, is based on a letter sent by Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to the government in February, in which he warned that rising military expenditures were creating increasing pressure on the federal budget.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. According to the document, Russia may need to freeze planned spending in other areas to cover the growing costs of the war. The warning comes as Moscow is allocating 16.84 trillion rubles ($238 billion) to defense and security in its 2026 budget – nearly 40% of total government spending. Budget deficit already exceeds annual target The Financial Times reported that Russia initially projected a budget deficit of 3.8 trillion rubles ($53 billion) for all of 2026. However, during the first four months of the year alone, the deficit reached 5.9 trillion rubles ($82 billion), equivalent to roughly 2.5% of GDP and the largest shortfall recorded since the start of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to the letter, the Finance Ministry estimated in February that the immediate funding gap created by additional military spending stood at 2 trillion rubles ($28 billion) but could expand to 4 trillion rubles ($56 billion) under a negative scenario extending through 2027 and 2028.