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More than a third of Russia's budget is now spent on defense, while the financial costs of President Vladimir Putin's war continue to rise.
After passing a law expanding the pool of those eligible for military service, which includes raising the maximum age for conscription from 27 to 30, a new government document reveals that Moscow has doubled its defense spending target to by 2023 to over $100 billion, according to Newsweek.
A Russian economics expert told Newsweek that Moscow's spending is "even higher" than that.
Spending details for each sector of the Russian economy are no longer published, but data reported by Reuters showed that defense spending in the first six months of 2023 reached 5.59 trillion rubles ($58 billion), or 37.3 percent of total spent 14.97 trillion rubles in that period.
As Moscow spends more on its occupation of Ukraine, the deficit could widen further, while rising output could cannibalize other sectors and hurt private investment.
Before lawmakers raised the maximum age for conscription, all able-bodied men in Russia between the ages of 18 and 27 had to serve a year of compulsory military service.
The Russian parliament also passed a law that, from October 1, could see men face a tenfold increase in fines to 30,000 rubles ($315) if they fail to show up at a recruitment office after receiving a draft notice.
There has been a mass exodus of men from Russia since Putin announced a partial mobilization last September to increase his forces by 300,000.
Since then, the digital recruitment system has allowed calls to be issued online, making it harder for people to avoid joining the military. Now a new law prohibits conscripts from leaving the country after being called up.
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