Moscow

Russia has doubled its defence spending target to $100 billion in 2023. Russia’s economy is booming despite Western countries, initially led by the US, imposing various sanctions on Russia over its war with Ukraine.

The British Ministry of Defense claims that the share of defence expenditure in the total expenditure of the Russian government has reached about 30 per cent. At the beginning of the year, Russia had set a defence spending target of $54 billion. But, in the first six months itself, Russia has spent 12 per cent more than the target. Russia’s domestic economy remains strong despite Western sanctions and heavy war spending.

Analysts believe that Russia’s domestic economy is getting a boost from the military industry. According to an estimate, Russia has spent about 1000 billion rubles in the first 6 months of this year on the army. In July, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said that now more ammunition is being made every month that was not made in the whole of 2022. Western analysts claim that Russia is cutting spending on infrastructure like schools, hospitals and roads to fund the war. However, the economy remains active due to military activities.

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to an additional 19 years in prison by a Russian court on Friday. This is the third and longest prison term he has been sentenced to. Navalny, 47, who is President Vladimir Putin’s most staunch critic, is already serving more than 11 years in prison for fraud and other alleged crimes. Navalny has been convicted of setting up an extremist organization and funding its activities.

Russia’s defence Ministry said that on Friday morning two drones attacked the base of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, which damaged a warship. However, later both drones were shot down. At the same time, Ukraine took responsibility for the attack and said that if the Russian vessel Olengorsky Garnyak has been destroyed, it will no longer be a problem for Ukraine.