Russian defense budget is classified, unlike in the U.S., EU member states countries and Ukraine, where such documents are frankly discussed and endorsed in a transparent manner. In the Russian case, there is a practice traditional for totalitarian regimes, the same as applied in China and the DPRK: when their defense budget is published, no one can know for sure whether it is about the actual figures or simply created to manipulate people.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Mykhailo Samus: What will Russia spend this year’s defense budget on?
Girls fire air-powered pistols during a military-style competition, organised by the National Guard security force for military cadets and youths, at a training ground in Balashikha, outside Moscow, on Aug. 5, 2017.
