Key Points and Summary – Russia’s draft 2026–2028 budget signals mounting strain on war financing. Opposition economist Vladimir Milov flags seven straight years of >2% deficits and a 2025 shortfall raised to 2.6%, with official claims of later decline dismissed as unrealistic. -Sanctions have shut Moscow out of global capital; domestic borrowing and dwindling reserves […]

Last month, the Russian government released a draft of the proposed 2026–2028 federal budget, which purports to show the near-term priorities of President Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Milov, a Russian opposition politician who left Russia after Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has released a pessimistic assessment of the former KGB lieutenant colonel’s chances of being able to continue to bankroll his war in Ukraine.

In his latest report for the Foundation, he projects rough times ahead for Moscow due to a series of unfavorable trends.

According to his analysis, Russia’s budgetary situation is anything but “normal.”