The lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, approved a federal budget on November 17 that increases spending by around 25 percent in 2024 and devotes a record amount to defense. The budget for 2024-26 was developed specifically to fund the Russian military and to mitigate the impact of “17,500 sanctions” on Russia, State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said. Under the spending plan, the country's largest ever, defense spending is expected to overtake social spending next year for the first time in modern Russian history.
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