As the war in Ukraine grinds on.
Russia is ramping up
its military spending.
A new report
reveals Moscow has doubled its defense
spending this year. So far.
Clare Sebastian has the details
In Russia today,
military production is secret.
Russia's main tank factory
showing off its latest shipment
and a choreographed glimpse
into the strain of wartime production
output here has more than tripled over
the last year,
according to Russia's prime minister.
What we have seen
is that
military spending has been much higher
than was actually planned for this year.
And it looks like that
the spending that was planned
for this year already exhausted.
Now that we are halfway through the year,
the Russian budget
had earmarked
roughly $50 billion for defense
budget documents
seen this month
by Reuters suggests
Russia has now more than doubled
that estimate.
Experts say it could be even higher.
It looks as though, as expressed
as a percentage of GDP,
it could be anywhere between eight
and 10% of GDP.
So we think as a proportion of GDP,
it could be have almost tripled
Are you surprised in any way by this?
No.
Is the honest answer we could give.
A great junior for President.
Putin was very clear
that he said last December,
no limits to military funding.
And yet, as Russia's annual weapons
exhibition got underway this month,
the Teflon had started to come off.
It's wartime economy,
military spending, helping
fuel a resurgence in inflation
and a plummeting ruble,
prompting an emergency rate rise
from the central bank
and putting even the most loyal Russians
on edge since the great heated debate.
Semi-auto
sanctions and lower prices
also sent Russia's
vital oil
and gas revenues
plummeting in the first half
of this year.
But prices have been recovering over
the summer.
Russia is still earning
a huge amount of dollars and yuan
and euros
by exporting energy and other resources.
And it is going to earn these dollars
also in the future because,
you know, as we have learned,
we cannot easily push
Russia out of the oil market.
There is, though,
another challenge facing Russia's weapons
industry solution.
You must get both.
Do you like playing basketball?
Asks this recruitment video for the Kazan
helicopter plant.
The CEO of its parent company recently
told Putin
they need to fill 23,000 jobs this year.
Wages are already up 17%.
And this is a very tight labor
force
for a number of demographic reasons,
but also to do which is the war.
A lot of people have left the country.
Some people have been mobilized.
Sanctions have also disrupted
supplies of high tech components
for weapons, experts say,
raising costs even further.
And yet the Kremlin has found a way
to justify this, a war with the West.
Minsk rewards.
The Western elite
made no secret of their goal,
which is,
I quote, Russia's strategic defeat.
So the Russian population
is being presented with that view,
threatening threats
that are being prepared
and shaped to expect that
this may be going to happen.
Spend more money
to take more of a case
of living standards
to fight against
such a powerful adversary.
A fight
now happening on the front lines
and in the factories.
Sebastian, CNN, London.
After days of uncertainty,
Russia says it has confirmed that Yevgeny
Prigozhin was among
the ten people killed in last week's
plane crash.
Russian investigators say genetic tests
confirm the identity
of the Virginia chief
and all of the victims.
Prigozhin, who led a failed uprising
against the Kremlin, had previously been
named as one of those on board the plane
which crashed north of Moscow.
But until now, authorities
had stopped short of confirming
that he died.
As Salma is here right now.
I mean, we were expecting this news
one way, but
I mean, in terms of exactly
what happened,
we're getting all our information
to the Russian authorities.
And that's
what's important to remember here.
This is a Russian backed
investigation carried out
by Russian investigators on Russian soil.
So the question mark is,
can they really do
their job independently?
Can they do their job
without interference?
I think if you ask
any Western intelligence official,
they'll probably tell you, no,
we don't believe that they can.
And that's why there's been so much finger
pointing at the Kremlin.
At President Putin himself
for being involved
in the crash, of course.
The Kremlin has denied, denied, denied
this, said
any accusations
of involvement in that plane
crash is an absolute lie.
But so brings
the end of the speculation
as to who exactly was on board
the plane of any prigozhin.
Several of his top aides
as well, on that flight.
Russia's investigative
committee continues
to dig into the cause of the flight.
But the other question mark is
now what happens to the Wagner
mercenary group? The group he led?
That was very much centered
around his personhood,
around his character.
So how does it survive without him?
It's difficult
to imagine
that it would in already
Russia had been taking steps
before even the death of Prigozhin
to co-opt,
absorb these mercenaries
into the regular army.
And President Putin,
just a couple of days ago
now announcing yet
another decree requiring all volunteer
information
that was the term
used, essentially
meaning mercenary groups
to pledge allegiance to the Russian flag
to essentially fall
under the Russian Ministry of Defense.
So you're seeing steps
being taken here
to make sure
that this is consolidated centered
all of these military forces
under President Putin himself
to avoid potentially in the future
something similar to this.
The question
is what happens on the battlefield
in Ukraine?
Can Russia's Ministry of Defense,
which had been highly criticized
for its performance,
for its lack of manpower,
for its lack of weaponry?
Can it on its own
without the support
of independent contractors
like Yevgeny Prigozhin,
carry out what is needed on them?
Okay, Salma, thank you so much.