Russian federal budget spending linked to the war against Ukraine reached a record 10.687 trillion rubles ($123.4 billion) in the first half of 2026.According to an analysis of finance ministry data by Janis Kluge, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, the figure represents a 30% increase, or 2.46 trillion rubles ($28.4 billion), compared with the same period in 2025.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.According to the Moscow times, military spending was 65% higher than in the first six months of 2024 and 145% above the level recorded during the same period in 2023.Compared with the first year of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, spending increased by 285%, while expenditures were more than five times higher than in the prewar year of 2021.On average, Russia spent about 1.78 trillion rubles ($20.6 billion) a month on its military and weapons production during the first half of this year. That amounted to roughly 59 billion rubles ($681.4 million) per day, or 2.5 billion rubles ($28.9 million) per hour.Military-related expenditures accounted for 43.8% of all federal budget spending during the six-month period, which Kluge described as a new record.Measured against government revenue, the share was even higher. Russia spent the equivalent of 57.3% of all federal budget income on the military and defense industry.A year earlier, military spending accounted for 39.2% of federal expenditures and 46.8% of revenue. Before the full-scale invasion, those figures stood at 20% and 19.8%, respectively, according to Kluge’s calculations.