— 05 / CHAPTER · CONCLUSION
— 05.1 / RECAP
Four chapters have passed. Timeline showed the scale. Comparison — the proportion. The registry — the figures who signed the allocation into law. The calculator — every reader's personal share.
The knowing is done. What to do with it is each reader's choice. Below — options others have arrived at. The publication advocates none of them; it records that they exist.
— 05.2 / WARNING
Saving, forwarding, publishing screenshots or citing materials from this site in the public sphere inside Russiamay be prosecuted under Articles 207.3(«false information» about the armed forces), 280.3(«discrediting» the armed forces), 280.4(calls against state security, introduced 2022), and 275(state treason) of the Russian Criminal Code, and Russia's anti-extremism legislation. Sentences run up to 20 years of imprisonment; under Art. 275 — life.
The decision to read, save or share is each reader's. This block neither dissuades nor encourages. It documents the sentences already handed down for acts of comparable scale: saved images, comments, posts, reposts, words spoken in public. According to OVD-Info, in 2024–2026 verdicts under these articles are handed down every month; a sample is listed below.
— DOCUMENTED VERDICTS
St. Petersburg · 2022 → 2023
— ACT
Replaced supermarket price tags with anti-war stickers stating Russian-army casualty figures in Mariupol.
— SENTENCE
7 years in a general-regime penal colony
Art. 207.3 — «false information» about Russian armed forces
Verdict of Vasileostrovsky District Court, 16.11.2023
Yefremov, Tula Region · 2023
— ACT
His daughter drew an anti-war picture at school. The father was charged with «discrediting the army» over social-media posts; the daughter was placed in a state orphanage.
— SENTENCE
2 years in penal colony; daughter sent to state orphanage
Art. 280.3 — «discrediting» the Russian armed forces
Verdict of Yefremov Inter-district Court, 28.03.2023
Moscow · 2022
— ACT
A municipal deputy used the word «war» in reference to Russia's actions in Ukraine during a council meeting.
— SENTENCE
7 years in a general-regime penal colony
Art. 207.3 of the Criminal Code
Verdict of Meshchansky District Court, 08.07.2022
Arkhangelsk · 2023
— ACT
A university student. Posted an anti-war Instagram story and left comments in a student chat.
— SENTENCE
Added to the official «terrorists and extremists» register; house arrest → fled the country
Arts. 207.3 + 205.2 of the Criminal Code
Case materials, October District Court of Arkhangelsk, 2023
Moscow · 2022 → 2023
— ACT
Administrator of the student Telegram channel «Protestny MGU» — posts linking to news reports.
— SENTENCE
8 years and 6 months in a general-regime penal colony
Art. 207.3 of the Criminal Code
Verdict of Timiryazevsky District Court, 07.03.2023
St. Petersburg · 2024
— ACT
A left-wing essayist. Telegram posts criticising the state and supporting Ukrainian resistance.
— SENTENCE
16 years in a strict-regime penal colony
Arts. 205.2 + 280.4 of the Criminal Code
Verdict of Dzerzhinsky District Court, 12.12.2024
Moscow · 2023 → 2024
— ACT
An anti-war Facebook post (Facebook is banned in Russia) using a metaphor about hanging Putin, prosecuted as «justification of terrorism».
— SENTENCE
7 years in a strict-regime penal colony
Arts. 205.2 + 282 of the Criminal Code
Verdict of Babushkinsky District Court, 04.05.2023; appeal — 2024
Each case is a public verdict, published in open court records and covered by major outlets. The full registry of politically motivated criminal prosecutions in Russia is maintained by OVD-Info and Memorial.
— 05.3 / INDEPENDENT SOURCES
Independent Russian-language outlets that continued operating from exile after 2022. Each has its own sources and editorial line; this list is not exhaustive.
Meduza
meduza.io · daily news + analysis · also in English
Novaya Gazeta Europe
novayagazeta.eu · successor to Novaya Gazeta in exile · English edition
iStories · «Important Stories»
istories.media · investigative journalism · English edition
Mediazona
mediazona.ca · courts, security services, political prosecutions · English edition
Holod
holod.media · long-form reporting and reportage
Verstka
verstka.media · political investigations, the war
The Bell
thebell.io · economy, business, sanctions · English edition
The Insider
theins.ru · cross-border investigative outlet · English edition
Radio Svoboda
svoboda.org · RFE/RL Russian-language service
OVD-Info
ovd.info · human rights, registry of political prosecutions
Bellingcat
bellingcat.com · open-source intelligence · much Russia-focused work
most of these sites are blocked inside Russia and require VPN. mirror domains and Telegram channels are listed on each outlet's homepage.
— 05.4 / OPTIONS
01
Every figure in this edition cites its original — a law, a ministry report, an independent investigation. Take any number and follow the link: the document opens, the abstraction does not.
02
A website is a file. Saving this page as PDF, archive or to disk is one keystroke. Testimony moved offline survives independently of what happens to its source.
03
One spread sent into a chat travels on its own. After the first gesture the link spreads through forwards — without your continued attention, without your signature, without money.
04
Open Chapter 04 — Your Share, enter your salary, see your share of the military budget. That number then belongs to the reader: it was computed in their browser and exists only as long as they remember it.
Each option is the reader's own action. The publication does not solicit or accept donations. Links to the investigative outlets cited in this edition are listed in each chapter's methodology.
— 05.5 / SHARE
A link sent once works on its own. After the first gesture it travels on — through forwards, without your continued attention.
— 05.6 / COLOPHON
Edition I · MMXXVI. Independent breakdown of the Russian Federation's federal budget for 2026 — by chapter, by citation, by number.
— WHY THIS EDITION
Federal Law No. 426-FZ was signed on 28 November 2025: total expenditure for 2026 — $484 bn, of which the military-security bloc — 38.2 %, the social bloc — 8.2 %. Numbers at this scale do not read.
This edition translates trillions into units that living people count in — an annual teacher's salary, a Kalibr missile, one day of war. The method — verification against open data, the precedent for which was set by FBK, iStories, Project and OCCRP. The publication advances no accusations; it consolidates what has already been published into a single plane.
— WHO MADE IT
Margarita Demina — devoco.studio.
— EDITION
People's Audit, Edition I.
Launched 9 May 2026.
Edition closes when the budget changes.
— TYPOGRAPHY
Source Serif 4 (variable, opsz axis).
JetBrains Mono — technical labels.