Russia reduced the budget by 3 times – Svitan analyzed how this will affect military operations

The intensity of the fighting may decrease/Collage 24 Channel

The Kremlin wants to increase the country's defense budget by almost 70% in 2024. However, despite the increase in military spending, Russia will not be able to wage a war of greater intensity next year.

This opinion was expressed to Channel 24 by a military expert, instructor pilot, Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in reserve Roman Svitan. Earlier, British intelligence reported that the aggressor country was preparing for a long-term war.

“War is mathematics, where everything needs to be calculated. Why do the Russians allocate a large budget for next year? There is nothing terrible here, especially if in reality, the budget is not that big. In fact, Russia has reduced the budget by 3 times,” Svitan said.

How much did the Russians spend during the year of war: watch the video

The situation is so threatening

In order to conduct combat operations and the war that Russia is now waging in Ukraine for a year, the Russians have been preparing for about 10 years. We can assume that the occupiers spent the 10-year budget in one year.

A huge amount of ammunition, missiles, equipment, and personnel. This is a whole complex of financial losses. A 10-year budget is the minimum. Because from about 2012-2014, the Russians already began to prepare for an invasion on a full scale. They accumulated ammunition and equipment and then burned almost all of it within a year,” noted the Ukrainian Armed Forces colonel.

Now the Russian invaders are working with “wheels” – as much as they produce, they use as much, without accumulating stocks. Now, in order to carry out combat operations in the same mode as, for example, last year, the Russians need to increase the budget by 10 times, and not by 3, as they increased.

Accordingly, next year the intensity of enemy combat operations will decrease by 3 times. That is, if they did not increase the budget tenfold, did not agree on expenses, this means that the Russians plan to reduce the intensity of hostilities by 3 times, Svitan added.

We can say that the Russians, on the contrary, are reducing their expenditure budget, if we talk specifically about the expenditure part. They plan to reduce the front line by about 3 times. If now the entire front line is 1200 km, it will decrease to 400 km. This is approximately the front line that was along Donbass.

The situation at the front: latest news

• According to ISW analysts, the Russian the army can leave Bakhmut to strengthen the Melitopol direction. According to Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the reserve Roman Svitan, if the Russians leave their troops in the city, they will lose two companies of soldiers every day.
• Military expert Vladislav Seleznev suggested that the Russians may be preparing for an offensive on Limano-Kupyansky direction. The enemy is bringing armored vehicles to the first line of defense.
• Estonian intelligence officers reported that Russia is probably preparing for defense in the South. Russian invaders strengthen defenses at Tokmak.