Russia has reported to the UN on its military expenditures in 2015, which reached 2.9 trillion rubles (about US $43.5 billion). The expenses on the various branches of the Armed Forces have been revealed: the Navy forces had the most expensive cost, while the Aerospace Forces showed the greatest increase.
Photo: AFP 2016 / Kirill Zykov
Russia, unnoticed by the general public, reported to the United Nations on its military expenditure in 2015, the year of the Syrian campaign and the confrontation with NATO. According to reports, provided to the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) with a three-month delay, Russia has spent 2.9 trillion rubles (about US $43.5 billion) on military purposes in 2015, which is almost one trillion (or 48%) more than in 2014. The presented to the world community figure roughly corresponds to the country’s appropriations for the budget section ‘National Defense’, executed in 2015 (3.18 trillion rubles or about US $47.6 billion). In 2014, the difference between the data for the UN and the budget execution data was larger – about 500 billion rubles (US $7.5 billion).
Russia’s reports to the UN sheds light on how much the state spends on its defense in the context of the branches of the armed forces. The Navy was the most expensive branch of the Russian Armed Forces in 2015 – the government spent on it 700.3 billion rubles or US $10.5 billion (an increase of 38.6% in nominal terms relative to 2014). At the same time, the cost of the Russian Air Force, which have been enlarged and transformed in the Aerospace Force in mid-2015, showed the most significant increase by 66% up to 662.4 billion rubles (about US $9.9 billion). It was the first time, when the budget the Russian Air Force exceeded the cost of the ground forces. This may be connected with the military operation in Syria, or just be a consequence of combining the Air Force and the Aerospace Defense Forces.
Nearly 1 trillion rubles fell into the category of ‘Other’ (other types of the armed forces). This means that one third of all declared military expenditures accounts for other unnamed structures. According to the UN standard, states may include to this column the costs of the paramilitary forces capable of conducting military operations.
