Russia's defence budget goes Cold War: Putin sets aside $202 billion for military

JUST IN: Russia sets aside a record $202 billion for its military, dedicating 17.1 trillion roubles to defence by 2027 in a dramatic Cold War-era spending surge driven by the war in Ukraine.

Two hundred and two billion dollars. That's Russia's new military budget, and it's a record.

The Kremlin is setting aside 17.1 trillion roubles for defence through 2027, spending on a scale not seen since the Cold War. This is Putin, here visiting troops, telling the world exactly where his priorities sit. Not pensions, not infrastructure. The war.

And that's the signal worth sitting with. Budgets are plans, and a plan this size isn't written by a government expecting peace next year. It's written by one preparing to fight through 2027 and arming the economy around that single idea.

For Ukraine, and for every NATO capital reading this line item, the message is plain. Moscow isn't winding this down. It's pricing in years more of it, and daring everyone else to match the bill.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.