Putin Is Repeating Brezhnev’s Major Mistakes — The Telegraph

Vladimir Putin plans to increase Russia's military spending by 27% in 2027—to 17.1 trillion rubles. According to The Telegraph, this increase in funding comes amid a massive tax hike, raising concerns among Western leaders about a possible escalation of the conflict with NATO.

 

As The Telegraph columnist Con Coughlin notes, the diversion of resources toward the war is exacerbating financial hardships for Russians, as household incomes are falling and government funding for education and healthcare is being sharply cut. The situation for the Russian economy is further complicated by Western sanctions and Ukrainian strikes on energy infrastructure, making the Kremlin’s moves a desperate gamble.

The attempt to raise the defense budget to levels not seen since 1991 echoes events during the war in Afghanistan, when a similar surge in military spending led to shortages of goods and became one of the factors in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

According to a report by Western intelligence agencies, it was precisely this warning about the threat of a similar economic collapse that CIA Director John Ratcliffe sought to convey to the Russian leadership during his visit to Russia. Despite this, by increasing military spending, Putin aims to demonstrate that he has no intention of giving in and hopes to secure the fulfillment of his demands.

Source: The Telegraph

As a reminder, Putin has called the annexation of Ukrainian territories a just struggle by the Russian people.

Putin ordered the purchase of grain from farmers amid export problems through Russian ports.

As a reminder, Russia has rejected all options for a grain deal that could allow for the resumption of agricultural exports via the Black Sea. Ukraine’s Minister of Agrarian Policy, Taras Vysotsky, told Bloomberg about this. According to him, Kyiv received this information from countries that had attempted to establish a dialogue with Moscow.

Currently, Ukraine and Russia have effectively reached parity in terms of grain export volumes in absolute terms.