Paul Goble
Staunton, Jan. 20 – One way Putin’s expanded war in Ukraine is going to impose burdens on Russia’s federal subjects long after that conflict has ended is highlighted by Ufa’s plans to spend 25 billion rubles (350 million US dollars) on veterans and their families, an amount exceeding the republic’s planned budget deficit of 22.5 billion rubles (310 million US dollars).
Bashkortostan may be an extreme because it has lost more men in Putin’s war than any other (bashinform.ru/news/svo/2026-01-20/v-bashkirii-na-podderzhku-uchastnikov-svo-i-ih-semey-napravyat-25-mlrd-rubley-4543700 and idelreal.org/a/v-bashkortostane-v-etom-godu-na-podderzhku-uchastnikov-voyny-i-chlenov-ih-semey-vydelyat-25-mlrd-rubley/33654876.html).
But it is certainly not unique; and this way in which the regions and republics are suffering because of yet another unfunded liability imposed by the Kremlin simultaneously will make them more dependent on Moscow for aid and angrier that they will have less money to spend on the needs of their populations.
A major part of this planned spending will go to taking care of the roughly one-quarter of veterans who because of injuries can’t hold down a regular job and who will need medical attention and support for their own lives and that of families who depend on them, burdens the Kremlin has been offloading to the federal subjects rather than addressing itself.
And those burdens won’t go away anytime soon, something that it appears the federal subjects will have to bear even if that means they have to cut back on support for the basic needs of the rest of the population, a development that will almost certainly intensify complaints about Moscow’s approach.
No comments:
Post a Comment