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Russia's Wartime Economy: The Long-Term Erosion of Debt and Military Spending

Russia's Wartime Economy: The Long-Term Erosion of Debt and Military Spending

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September 18th, 2026

Russia's Wartime Economy: The Long-Term Erosion of Debt and Military Spending

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Please note: This article has been simplified for language learning purposes. Some context and nuance from the original text may have been modified or removed.

🇺🇸 English

Frictions within Russia's wartime economy are becoming increasingly acute, with colossal military expenditure causing the budget deficit to swell relentlessly.

俄罗斯战时经济内部的摩擦正日趋激化庞大的军事开支致使预算赤字持续膨胀

Consumer and business confidence is sinking ever deeper.

消费者与企业的信心愈发低迷

Growth has already slackened.

增长已然放缓

Yet economists point out that none of this portends an imminent financial crisis or economic collapse.

然而经济学家指出凡此种种均不预示着一场金融危机或经济崩溃即将降临

Thanks to the elevated oil prices brought about by the war in Iran, the crucial revenue from oil exports has been sustained, and the government is, at least for the time being, still able to raise the funds needed to sustain its military campaign in Ukraine, which has now dragged on for four and a half years.

得益于伊朗战争所导致的油价高企至关重要的石油出口收入得以维系政府至少就目前而言尚能筹措资金以支撑已持续四年半之久的入侵乌克兰的军事行动

At the same time, persistently low unemployment, coupled with the government's generous disbursements to impoverished regions, has helped to curb the emergence and spread of consumer discontent.

与此同时,持续低迷的失业率,加之政府向贫困地区拨付的慷慨款项,均有助于遏制消费者不满情绪的滋生蔓延。

As Russia's meticulously stage-managed parliamentary elections got under way on Friday and drew to a close on Sunday, this state of affairs dovetailed neatly with the Kremlin's narrative of stability.

在俄罗斯精心操控的议会选举自周五启幕、至周日落幕之际,这一态势恰与克里姆林宫关于稳定的叙事若合符节。

Yet economists caution that a more profound peril is quietly eroding the foundationsone that may one day culminate in a crisis.

然而,经济学家警示道,更为深远的隐患正悄然侵蚀根基——有朝一日恐将酿成危机。

The consumer confidence indicator has been on a steady decline ever since it peaked in 2024-25, a period when escalating military expenditure was lending upward momentum to growth and wage levels.

消费者信心指标自2024-25年触及峰值以来便持续走低彼时军费开支的攀升正为增长与工资水平提供上行动力

More recently, consumers have had to contend with the twin predicament of rising petrol prices and supply shortages, brought about by Ukrainian drone strikes that damaged refineries.

近期消费者更须应对汽油价格上涨与供应短缺的双重困境其成因在于乌克兰无人机袭击致使炼油厂损毁

Numerous small businesses, too, have found themselves at risk of losing inventory and customers as a result of the attacks targeting the online retailers Wildberries and Ozon.

众多小企业因针对在线零售商Wildberries和Ozon的袭击而蒙受库存与客户流失之虞

Meanwhile, growth has already fallen back from its peak annual expansion of over 4% in 2023-24.

与此同时增长已然2023-24年逾4%年度扩张峰值回落

The government forecasts growth of 0.6% for the current year, with the economy having contracted in the first quarter before recovering somewhat in the second.

政府预计本年度增长0.6%经济于第一季度陷入萎缩继而在第二季度有所回升

The consumer confidence index compiled by the Levada Center, an independent Russian polling organization, fell to 94 in the summer, a marked decline from 116 in the spring and summer of 2025; a reading below 100 signals that negative sentiment regarding consumer confidence has now outweighed positive sentiment.

由独立俄罗斯民调机构列瓦达中心所编制的消费者信心指数于夏季下探至94,较2025年春夏的116显著回落;读数低于100,即昭示消费者信心之消极情绪已然压过积极情绪。

In Moscow, whenever the subject of elections is raised, the public's response almost invariably revolves around such fundamental concerns for their livelihood as pensions and prices.

在莫斯科,每当选举话题被提起,民众的回应便几乎无一例外地围绕着养老金与物价这类关乎生计的根本性关切而展开。

Alexander Vertukhin, a 72-year-old retired military prosecutor, pointed out that the government ought to place at the center of its governance the paramount task of "enabling retirees to enjoy a dignified life."

现年72岁的退役军事检察官亚历山大·韦尔图欣指出,政府理应将施政重心置于“使退休人员得以享有体面生活”这一要务之上。

As for his own circumstances, he candidly remarked, "I am quite comfortably off, both financially and in every other respect."

至于他本人的境况,他坦言:“我在经济以及其他各个方面均过得颇为优渥。”

Dmitry Kirillin, aged 26, stated: "In broad terms, what I ardently aspire to is for housing to become more affordable, and for retirees to be able to live with dignity, rather than merely scraping by.

26岁的德米特里·基里林表示:“概而言之我所殷切希冀的乃是住房变得更为可负担,乃是退休人员得以体面地生活而非仅仅勉强维生

Furthermore, I also hope that traveling within our country could become more affordable.

此外我还希望在我们国家旅行能更为廉价

These are the primary matters that first come to mind; were I to ponder further, I could probably enumerate more."

这些便是我首先想到的主要事项,倘若再细细思量我大概还能列举出更多。”

He then added: "If the current situation permits, I hope the rate of price increases will become more moderate."

继而补充道:“假使当前形势有所容许,我期望物价上涨的幅度能趋于更为和缓。”

Chris Weafer, chief executive of Macro-Advisory Ltd., a consultancy operating in the former Soviet Union, pointed out that although the gasoline supply situation and the attack on Wildberries had heightened the war's visibility for the public, they did not yet amount to a crisis.

在前苏联地区开展业务的咨询公司Macro-Advisory Ltd.首席执行官克里斯·威弗指出汽油供应状况Wildberries遇袭事件虽使战争的可见度对民众而言有所提升却尚未构成一场危机

He characterized the economic situation as being in a state of "tolerable stability," while public sentiment manifested itself as "grumbling" rather than protest.

他将经济态势界定为处于尚可忍受的稳定”之中,公众情绪则表现为抱怨而非抗议

Weaver stated: "The economy is under strainit has settled into a stagnant state of stability without growth.

威弗表示:“经济正承受着压力——已陷入一种稳定却无增长的停滞状态

Yet it is not facing a recession either."

然而并未面临衰退。”

He asserted that the vast majority of people "have not been greatly affected," and that the Ukrainian strikes "merely disrupt your shopping habits, which will not alter public support for the Kremlin."

他声称,绝大多数人“并没有受到太大影响”,乌克兰的袭击“只是因为你的购物习惯被打乱,这不会改变公众对克里姆林宫的支持。”

Although President Vladimir Putin's approval rating has been on a downward trajectory in recent months, it nonetheless remains above the level recorded prior to the outbreak of the war in 2022.

总统弗拉基米尔·普京的支持率近数月来虽呈下行态势,却仍高于2022年战争爆发前的水平。

The persistence of Russia's budget deficit, compounded by the government's strenuous search for new sources of funding, constitutes a key manifestation of that pressure.

俄罗斯预算赤字之持续存在加之政府竭力寻觅新的资金来源构成了压力一项关键表征

Putin has resorted to raising the value-added tax that consumers pay at the checkout, increasing a range of other levies, and tightening the tax burden on small businesses.

普京已诉诸于提高消费者在收银台所缴纳的增值税上调一系列其他费用收紧对小企业的征税

Yet the deficit has continued to climb.

然而赤字持续攀升

As of the end of July, budget data revealed that the deficit had reached 2.8% of annual economic outputnearly double the originally planned annual budget target.

截至7月底预算数据揭示赤字已占年度经济产出的2.8%——几近原定年度预算目标的两倍之多

The available resources in Russia's Reserve Fund have shrunk to 1.6% of GDP, which means the Kremlin has been compelled to borrow from domestic banks.

俄罗斯储备基金中的可用资源已萎缩至GDP的1.6%这意味着克里姆林宫不得不向国内银行举债

However, this measure entails incurring exorbitant borrowing costs.

然而此举意味着须承担高昂的借贷成本

Janis Kluge, an expert on Russian fiscal affairs at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, points out that interest rates on Russian bonds have soared to as high as 17 percent.

德国国际与安全事务研究所俄罗斯财政问题专家亚尼斯·克卢格指出俄罗斯债券利率竟高达17%

In a recent report, he wrote that budgetary pressures "have intensified doubts about how much longer Russia can sustain this war."

他在近期一份报告中写道预算压力加剧了人们对俄罗斯还能维持这场战争多久的怀疑”。

The Russian central bank has consistently maintained high interest rates in order to curb the inflation triggered by war spending.

俄罗斯央行始终维持高利率以遏制战争开支所引发的通胀

This has placed pressure on civilian enterprises that are unable to obtain privileged credit on the same terms as defense firms.

这给那些无法像国防企业那样获得特权信贷的民用企业带来了压力。

Another source of war funding lies in the escalating private loans that Russia's pliant banks extend to defense-related enterprises, which means that such debt does not show up in the deficit figures.

另一个战争资金来源,乃是俄罗斯那些俯首帖耳的银行向国防相关企业递增私人贷款,这意味着此类债务并未显现在赤字数据之中。

In the long run, Western sanctions have deprived Russia of access to the new investment that could be deployed to raise the economy's productivity.

就长远而言,西方制裁致使俄罗斯无从获取可用于提升经济生产率的新型投资。

The confluence of risk factorshigh-risk expenditure, sluggish growth, mounting debt, and elevated borrowing costshas prompted some economists to warn that, although the Russian economy has not yet collapsed, its structural foundations are being eroded at a perilous rate.

高风险支出、低增长、债务攀升与借贷成本高企等风险因素交织叠加,促使部分经济学家发出警示:俄罗斯经济虽尚未陷入崩溃,其结构性根基却正以危险之势遭受侵蚀。

Torbjörn Becker of the Stockholm School of Economics characterises the current trajectory as "unsustainable".

斯德哥尔摩经济学院的托尔比约恩·贝克尔将当前轨迹定性为“不可持续的”。

Yet he notes at the same time that "when the crisis will strike remains highly uncertain."

然而他同时指出,“危机何时降临仍具有高度的不确定性。”

Before the war, Iran's oil export revenue had at one point shrunk to less than $10 billion per month; yet by June, that revenue had rebounded strongly to $15.8 billion, and in July it stood at $13.8 billion.

战前伊朗的石油出口收入曾一度萎缩至每月不足100亿美元而截至6月该项收入已强势反弹至158亿美元7月则录得138亿美元

Becker wrote that as long as energy prices remain persistently high, Russia's budgetary constraints "may effectively vanish."

贝克尔写道,只要能源价格持续高企,俄罗斯的预算约束“可能会有效消失”。

He argues that, to reverse this state of affairs, the paramount priority is to strike, with more ferocious means, at the fleet of oil tankers Russia uses to circumvent sanctions.

他主张欲扭转此一局面当务之急乃是以更为凌厉的手段俄罗斯用以规避制裁的油轮船队予以打击

The fiscal resources allocated to defence plants and enlistment bonuses have proved a veritable boon for Russia's provincesthose regions that are poorer than Moscow and St Petersburg.

划拨用于国防工厂及入伍奖金的财政资源已然成为俄罗斯各省——那些较之莫斯科与圣彼得堡更为贫困的地区——的一项福音

Given that the factories are frequently operating at full capacity, the national unemployment rate stands at a mere 2.2%.

鉴于工厂往往处于满负荷运转状态,全国失业率仅为2.2%

According to a recent report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies focusing on Russia's defense industry, since the invasion of Ukraine the Uralvagonzavod tank factory in Nizhny Tagil, in the Urals region, has expanded its workforce from roughly 20,000 to more than 38,000 and has launched round-the-clock, uninterrupted production.

战略与国际研究中心近期一份聚焦俄罗斯国防工业的报告披露,自入侵乌克兰以来坐落于乌拉尔地区下塔吉尔的乌拉尔车辆厂坦克工厂已将劳动力规模由约2万人扩充至逾3.8万人并启动了全天候不间断生产

Meanwhile, Kupol, which manufactures drones and surface-to-air missiles and ranks as the foremost industrial enterprise in the Udmurt region along the Volga, more than doubled its output in 2025.

生产无人机与地对空导弹的库波尔作为伏尔加河沿岸乌德穆尔特地区首屈一指的工业企业其产量在2025年翻了一番有余

The scarcity of skilled labour is hampering the productive capacity of defence enterprises and, indeed, of the economy as a whole, and this predicament is compounded by the exodus of hundreds of thousands of people, predominantly the young, who have fled abroad out of fear of conscription and political repression.

熟练劳动力的匮乏正掣肘国防企业乃至整体经济的产能,而数十万以年轻人为主的人口因忧惧征兵与政治打压而远走他乡,更令这一困境雪上加霜。

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, pointed out that month-on-month deficit figures are inherently volatile, saying, "This figure is hardly sufficient to give cause for concern.

克里姆林宫发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫指出逐月赤字数据本身即具有波动性,“此数字实不足以引发忧虑

Macroeconomic stability has undoubtedly been fully secured."

宏观经济稳定无疑已获充分保障。”

Nevertheless, Andrei Klepach, chief economist at the Russian state development bank VEB.RF, cautioned in a speech that, shackled by the twin fetters of sanctions and economic isolation, "we are falling ever further behind in the global contest for technological and economic pre-eminence," and that "we cannot, in the end, prevail in this war of attrition."

然而,俄罗斯国有开发银行VEB.RF的首席经济学家安德烈·克列帕奇在一次演讲中不无警醒地指出,缘于制裁与经济孤立的双重桎梏,“我们在世界技术与经济竞争的格局中正日趋落伍”,且“我们终究无法在这场消耗战中胜出”。

He was dismissed from his post.

他遭到了解雇。

Dasha Litvinova, based in Tallinn, Estonia, also contributed to this report.

爱沙尼亚塔林的达莎·利特维诺娃亦对本报道有所贡献。

September 18th, 2026

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