“End the war”: War with Ukraine raises protests in Russia, puts Kremlin in trouble

Russia’s plan to hike defense spending next year has divided opinion in Moscow, with some objecting to devoting more money to the Ukraine conflict while many face a squeeze in living standards.

Russia is to spend more than 40 percent of its total budget on defence and security next year, more than the money allocated for social welfare and education combined.

“It is an outrage,” 80-year-old pensioner Irina told AFP in Moscow. “We need to end this war, and spending the budget on war is a crime.”

The government promised major investment in social support ahead of Monday’s budget announcement, promising to make it a top priority.

But the $145-billion draft defense budget suggests military spending has crowded out other sectors.

Planned spending on “national defence” is more than twice that allocated to areas Moscow labels as “social policy.”

“The population of the country does not live so well,” pensioner Elena, 68, told AFP.

“I am generally against military action of any kind, in any country, in ours, and in general the whole world,” she said.

The Kremlin has heavily militarized Russia’s economy since sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022, spending huge sums on arms and army salaries.

That spending boom has fueled economic growth, helping the Kremlin buck initial predictions of a recession when it was hit with unprecedented Western sanctions in 2022.

But it has caused surging inflation, a sensitive issue for many in a country where memories of economic instability following the Soviet collapse run deep.

“There is not enough for anything at all. Not for treatment, not for anything,” said 70-year-old Irina, who complained her pension was only 25,000 rubles or $260 a month.

“It’s pennies. People are unprotected,” she said. “It’s a shame and a disgrace that the country has no money to treat its own children,” she added.