Russia's 2016 budget marks the first time since 2011 that military spending will not drastically increase year-on-year. Denis Grishkin / Vedomosti
Russia's defense spending is set to increase by a modest 0.8 percent next year, falling far short of the estimated 10 percent annual budget increases required over the next five years to hit equipment modernization targets mandated by President Vladimir Putin.
Russian military expenditure has been rising since 2011, when the government launched a massive 20 trillion ruble ($700 billion at the time) rearmament drive aimed at modernizing some 70 percent of the Russian armed forces by 2020. But amid an economic crisis that began last year, planned spending on the program has hit an apparent snag.
WNU Editor: Sanctions and the recession is taking a bite out of the Russian government's coffers .... but everyone in Moscow is expecting this to be a short-term measure.
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