Russia spends about $300 million a day on the war with Ukraine. The Russian budget spent more in January-June 2023 than it planned to spend for the whole of 2023. Despite this, Russia is doubling its military budget, and the cost of a Russian soldier is getting smaller.

Direct military expenditures and the cost of lost Russian equipment during the 18 months of the war (from February 24, 2022 to August 24, 2023) amount to about $167.3 billion. Such calculations were made by Forbes based on data from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This estimate does not include fixed defence expenditures unrelated to military operations. It also does not include the economic losses of the aggressor country.

Infographic: Forbes Ukraine

Missiles, shells and military ammunition

The main item of expenditure of the Russian Federation for the war in Ukraine is ammunition and military support of the army. According to Forbes, the total cost of these costs is $51.34 billion.

Last year, Russian artillery used up to 50,10 shells per day, now the rate of use has significantly decreased: to approximately <>,<> shells per day.

The average price of a Soviet-caliber projectile is about $1000. So, the Russians spent more than $9 billion on providing Russian artillery alone during the year and a half of the full-scale war.

Obviously, Russia has not prepared for such a long war and its stockpile of shells and production capabilities do not allow it to meet its own needs in the long term, which forces it to conclude a contract for the supply of ammunition with North Korea.

Russia has also resumed the intensity of missile attacks on the territory of Ukraine. If in March-April the Russian Federation fired 95 long-range missiles at Ukraine, in May 243 missiles were launched. In August — 126.

The total cost of missiles fired on the territory of Ukraine is already more than $21.1 billion.

Infographic: Forbes Ukraine

Lost Vehicles

The largest losses of the enemy in the war against Ukraine among equipment are tanks and aircraft.

Russia lost 315 combat aircraft, with an average cost of $18.8 million, and 316 helicopters, with an average cost of $10.4 million. But most of the aviation losses occurred in the first six months of the full-scale invasion.

Now the main "hunt" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is for enemy artillery systems and air defense. During the three months of the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian military destroyed almost 2000 artillery systems. This is the same as for the whole of last year. In total, Russia has already lost $5 billion worth of artillery and MLRS.

Also, during the Ukrainian counteroffensive, long-range artillery destroys about 2.5 times more air defense systems than before.

The total losses of Russian equipment in monetary terms amount to more than $34 billion for the period from February 24, 2022 to August 24, 2023.

Infographic: Forbes Ukraine

Salaries and compensations to the Russian occupiers

After the rapid fall of the ruble, the "cost" of a Russian soldier for the budget of the Russian Federation has significantly decreased. If in 2022 the total payments per soldier were about $200 per day, now it is about $120 per day.

Given that the lion's share of Russian budget revenues consists of oil and gas revenues, the devaluation of the Russian national currency actually reduces the burden on the budget to supply the army. At the same time, the real incomes of the Russian soldier are becoming significantly lower. Similarly, most of the costs in dollar terms, which are not tied to imported products and prices in international markets, have changed.

However, this has not yet helped the state budget of the Russian Federation to balance the needs of the Russian army. According to Reuters, in the first six months of 2023 alone, Russia spent 5.59 trillion rubles on defense, which is 600 billion rubles more than was included in the budget of the Russian Federation for the whole year. This forced the Russian government to double the planned spending of the federal budget on defense for 2023, increasing it to 9.7 trillion rubles.

The total budget of the Russian Federation for 2023 is planned at the level of 29 trillion rubles. Thus, 33% of the federal budget will be spent on providing for the army.

Also, with the fall of the ruble, the cost of compensation to the military in US dollars decreases. If at the rate of 60 rubles / $ the cost of compensation to the family of the deceased in the Russian Federation was about $110 thousand, now it is only about $65 thousand. The amount of compensation for the wounded accordingly decreased from $45,27 to $<>,<>.

However, the level of Russian losses in recent months has remained at a much higher level than last year, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Accordingly, Russia is forced to spend more on compensation.

Infographic: Forbes Ukraine

Recall that during the fighting in Hostomel, the Russian Federation lost 200 elite specialists in the seizure of airports: a special forces officer of the Main Directorate of Intelligence told the details of the fight.

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