— 02 / CHAPTER

02
COMPARISON

— 02.1 / RATIO

4.65 : 1

ratio of expenditure
military-security bloc
to social bloc

For every dollar allocated to healthcare and education, the state spends four dollars and sixty-five cents on defence and security.

Federal Law No. 426-FZ · Article 5 · Annexes 12, 14

— 02.2 / FEDERAL BUDGET BREAKDOWN

$484 bn

total federal budget expenditure for 2026

— BLOCK A

Military-security bloc

38.2 %

$185 bn

— breakdown

defence$142 bn29.3 %
security & law enforcement$43 bn8.9 %

— BLOCK B

Healthcare and education

8.2 %

$40 bn

— breakdown

healthcare$21 bn4.3 %
education$19 bn3.9 %

— BLOCK C · NOT INCLUDED IN COMPARISON

The remaining 53.6% of the budget (≈ $260 bn) covers pensions, debt service, the national economy, state administration and other categories. They are not included in this comparison because they are not direct alternatives to military spending.

— 02.3 / DIFFERENCE

$185 bn  —  $40 bn

$145 bn

That is by how much the military-security bloc exceeds the total spending on healthcare and education in one budget year.

calculation: Federal Law No. 426-FZ · annexes 12, 14

— 02.4 / UNIT OF MEASURE

To translate billions into a human scale, we use the same unit as in Chapter 01: a Russian teacher's annual salary — ≈ $4,500 (410,400 ₽).

— MILITARY-SECURITY BLOC

$185 bn

= 41,000,000 annual teacher salaries

— SOCIAL BLOC

$40 bn

= 8,820,000 annual teacher salaries

— DIFFERENCE

32,200,000

annual teacher salaries — that is by how much the military-security bloc exceeds combined spending on healthcare and education.

— 02.5 / SCALE OF PROFESSION

Russia employs 1.3 million teachers and 660 thousand doctors. Their full annual salary fund — ≈ $8.8 bn.

The 2026 military-security budget is 21 such funds. Twenty-one annual salaries for every teacher and every doctor in the country — in a single budget cycle.

Rosstat · headcount of teaching and medical workers, 2024

— 02.6 / BRIDGE

Behind every figure — the signature of a specific person. Chapter 03 is the registry of those who signed these numbers into law.


— METHODOLOGY

All shares and absolute figures are taken from the annexes to Federal Law No. 426-FZ of 28 November 2025 and the Ministry of Finance's explanatory memorandum. Headcount of teachers and medical workers — Rosstat, 2024. Annual teacher salary — «Rodnaya Shkola» teachers' union survey, 2025. Share calculation: section value ÷ 44.07 trn ₽ (≈ $484 bn). USD equivalents at FX rate ₽91 / $1, March 2026 (CBR).

document open for verification. every figure verified.