Putin signs Russia’s largest national budget, bolstering military spending

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a national budget for the next three years that increases spending by around 25% and reportedly devotes a record amount to defense as the the country’s military operation in Ukraine drags on. The budget foresees spending in 2024 of 36.6 trillion rubles with an expected deficit of 1.595 trillion rubles. Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin says the budget was developed specifically to fund the military and mitigate the impact of international sanctions imposed after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Analysts say that record low unemployment, higher wages and targeted social spending should help the Kremlin ride out the domestic impact of pivoting the economy toward the military, but could pose a problem in the long term.