Russia will delay annual December salary payments for military personnel until January amid a surging year-end budget deficit, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Under a draft order from the Russian Ministry of Defence, the change takes effect from 2026. Previous regulations required all December pay to be disbursed before the end of the year, a practice that had remained in place since the Soviet era.
The draft specifies that regular December wages will now arrive between January 11 and January 21. Troops actively deployed in the invasion of Ukraine will not face the delay, with their payments still scheduled to arrive before December 25.
The postponement is aimed at easing pressure on state coffers by transferring a major spending commitment into the next financial period. December routinely accounts for a disproportionate share of Russia's annual public expenditure, which has escalated sharply during the war.
Surging War Spending and Deficit Pressures
Total Russian government expenditure is on track to exceed initial forecasts by about 10 percent this year, reaching 48.5 trillion roubles, or approximately $602 billion.
That surge is forecast to drive the full-year budget deficit to 7.3 trillion roubles, or 3.2 percent of gross domestic product. In September, the projected deficit stood at approximately 2.2 percent.
The fiscal deterioration reflects the escalating cost of the conflict in Ukraine. Recent budget drafts reveal that the Kremlin intends to sustain elevated military funding in the years ahead, indicating that President Vladimir Putin is bracing for a protracted conflict.
Armed Forces Expansion and Revenue Searches
An explanatory note attached to the draft budget states that payments to personnel will consume between 9 percent and 10.4 percent of Russia's total national defence budget over the next three years.
The wage bill has climbed as the military has expanded. In September, Putin signed a decree raising the official size of the Russian armed forces to 2,441,630 staff, including 1,550,500 active troops. Russia has added more than 500,000 military personnel to its authorized headcount since 2022.
With military spending slated to grow for at least the next three years, the Russian government is seeking fresh sources of revenue. Officials are exploring measures ranging from windfall taxes on the mining industry to proceeds from the sale of confiscated assets, as Moscow directs all available capital toward the invasion. In 2027 alone, Russia plans to spend $205 billion on the war effort.
