MEZIESBLOG

President Vladimir Putin has approved a 25% increase in Russia’s military budget for 2025 to 2027, a document published today confirms.

Despite the considerable rise in defence spending, it appears to be the most secretive in post-Soviet history – with a third of it censored from public view.

It amounts to around 32.5% of the total budget – 13.5 trillion roubles (£99.5bn), up from a reported 28.3% this year.

The numbers had already been approved by both houses of Russian parliament – but received sign-off from the president today.

Kremlin officials have reiterated that Russia’s war in Ukraine remains its main financial priority.

They say the new draft budget is “balanced”, with the national deficit falling to 0.5% against this year’s projected one of 1.7% – and state debt remaining below 20% for the next three years. 

New US sanctions on Gazprombank, which handles payments for Russian oil and gas, are expected to hit the economy hard – with the rouble falling to its lowest rate against the dollar in years when they were introduced this week.

Ukrainian soldiers ‘now accept land they’re fighting for might remain in Russian hands’

This morning, Sky’s chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay has been reflecting on his interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week.

He told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that he got the sense Zelenskyy is very determined still – and while he can be quite sharp with journalists sometimes, he was “very pleasant”.

He says he got the feeling there has been a shift change in him and his generals who now accept there has to be a new reality about what they’ll have to give up for the war to end.

Stuart says: “I went to a funeral yesterday. I’ve been to a lot of funerals here. 

“And I was talking to soldiers whose commander died. They said they wanted to continue fighting. But if the president said, we’re going to have a ceasefire and some of the land they’ve been fighting over remains with the Russians, they’d accept it. 

“I never thought I’d hear that. I never thought I’d hear that.”

He adds that “the loss of soldiers is something playing on all of their minds in the presidency” – as well as the level of civilian suffering more generally.

He says there is no bitterness from soldiers in Ukraine about their treatment by the West – in fact there is gratitude – but they say they are always given enough “to not win, but to just hold on”.

Russia claims control of two more settlements in Donetsk

Russia has taken control of two more settlements in Donetsk – Illinka and Petrivka, its defence ministry says.

Putin’s forces have been advancing through the eastern Donetsk region faster than it has since war broke out in February 2022.

It currently holds just under 20% of Ukrainian territory – largely along that eastern front.

They are reportedly approaching Kurakhove and Pokrovsk to the north, which is a key transport hub.

The Russian defence ministry also said it shot down 55 Ukrainian drones over the border in the past 24 hours.

One drone attack – in the western region of Bryansk – hit an apartment block and killed an 11-year-old boy (see 8.20am post).

The picture above shows what Russia’s hold on Ukraine looks like currently…