 Russia's budget for next year shows its planning for a long war in Ukraine. The Russian government has announced its proposed budget for 2024. For the first time in modern history, the country is set to spend 6% of gross domestic product on the military and defence spending will exceed social spending according to the Moscow Times publication. It is noted that the war against Ukraine and the West is not only the Kremlin's biggest priority, it is now also the main driver of Russia's economic growth. The record defence spending shows that the Kremlin has no intention of ending its war against Ukraine any time soon. On the contrary, even if the fighting becomes less intense or the conflict becomes frozen, the money will go toward replenishing Russia's depleted military arsenals. Likewise, it has enough cash to fund an escalation such as the imposition of martial law or full mobilisation. The new budget, which is awaiting approval from the State Duma envisages that revenue will grow by more than a third in 2024 reaching 35 trillion rubles or $349 billion. The Moscow Times wrote that most of Russia's defence spending will go toward producing military equipment as well as payments to those wounded in Ukraine and the families of those killed. However, the growth in spending will also be eaten up by the sector's long-standing inefficiency and the unprofitability of many of its companies. With Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many of these problems have only gotten worse.