Russia to spend $1.1 trillion preparing for 'upcoming large-scale war,' Ukraine's intel chief says
Russia to spend $1.1 trillion preparing for 'upcoming large-scale war,' Ukraine's intel chief says
kyivindependent.com
Russia to spend $1.1 trillion preparing for 'upcoming large-scale war,' Ukraine's intel chief says
That's like half their GDP, are we sure this is accurate?
Edit:
Over 11 years, it's about $100 billion, per year or about 5% of their GDP.
Don't worry, 1.1T rubles is about real 50 dollars.
Edit, IIRC it's over a bunch of years.
Oh, I missed the 11 years part.
How old will Putler be in 11 years?
He has spent the past few decades eliminating potential challengers, and has no obvious successor. If he has warning that his term is coming to an end and anoints one of his supplicants as his successor, once he’s gone, they’ll have evenly matched rivals at their throats. If he maintains the delusion of being in power forever until the last moment, there’ll be even more of a power struggle.
In any case, if several factions are fighting over who will rule Russia, declaring war on NATO is unlikely to strengthen anyone’s hand. (On the contrary, contenders may seek to get international legitimacy by withdrawing from Ukraine, standing down parts of the military and throwing a few underlings to war-crimes tribunals, in return for a promise of sanctions relief for Russia’s creaking economy; especially as the war was the old boss’s personal project.)