German intelligence: Russia's military spending reached up to half of state budget last year

Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) estimates that Russia's military expenditure last year may have amounted to almost half of the country's state budget and about 10% of its GDP.

The BND says Russia is spending far more on the war and its armed forces than it has officially declared in recent years.

Russia's defence budget has increased significantly every year since the start of the war against Ukraine in February 2022. In addition, the Russian interpretation of "defence spending" differs substantially from the NATO definition, German intelligence officials note.

A comprehensive analysis of budget data conducted by the BND shows that Russia's actual defence budget in recent years was 66% higher than officially reported.

Unaccounted expenditure includes, for example, construction projects by the Ministry of Defence, military IT projects and social payments to members of the armed forces.

As a result, military spending accounted for roughly half of Russia's total budget and about 10% of the country's GDP in 2025.

These funds are being used not only for the war against Ukraine but also to create and expand additional military capabilities, particularly near NATO's eastern flank, the BND emphasises.

The intelligence service stresses that these figures clearly illustrate the threat posed by Russia to Europe.

The Financial Times reported that Russian spacecraft may have intercepted communications from at least 10 key European satellites, putting sensitive information from European states at risk.

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that NATO "must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great grandparents endured".

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius disagreed with this assessment, expressing scepticism about the scenario of a full-scale war between Russia and NATO.