---
title: "Record Social Budget Sequestration: Novaya-Evropa Records Over 800 Cases of Healthcare and Education Spending Cuts Since 2021"
description: "Novaya-Evropa has recorded over 800 cases of cuts in Russia's social sphere since 2021. A record was set in 2026: healthcare and education under-received at least one trillion rubles from the budget."
date: 2026-11-13T10:26:51.133Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/record-social-budget-sequestration-russia-2026
tags: [social-budget, russia, healthcare, education, austerity, military-spending]
author: "Darya Fomina, Andrey Kosynko"
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Record Social Budget Sequestration: Novaya-Evropa Records Over 800 Cases of Healthcare and Education Spending Cuts Since 2021

![Neon purple stack of coins icon with a downward arrow on a dark background](https://xab.info/media/2026/11/13/rekordnye-sokrashcheniya-sotsialnogo-byudzheta-rossii-2026/rekordnye-sokrashcheniya-sotsialnogo-byudzheta-rossii-2026-1.webp)

## Key Points

- Since 2021, Novaya-Evropa has recorded over 800 cases of cuts and closures in the social sphere; over a quarter occurred in 2026
- Healthcare under-received 728 billion rubles, education 322 billion rubles relative to inflation indexing; the total gap is at least 1 trillion rubles
- The analysis was based on 571 regional Telegram channels using the deepseek-v4-flash LLM for the period 2021–2026
- Since 2026, officials have stopped hiding social spending cuts, economist Sergei Aleksashenko notes
- Spending on ecology and communal services exceeds inflation, but 90% of funds for 'environmental protection' go to carmaker subsidies

The year 2026 is turning into a period of unprecedented contraction for Russia's social sphere. According to calculations by Novaya-Evropa, healthcare and education have under-received at least one trillion rubles from the budget during the war. Over the first ten months of this year, journalists recorded more cases of 'tightening the belt' in the social sphere than in the entire year of 2025. In total, more than 800 episodes of cuts and institution closures have been detected since 2021, with over a quarter of them falling on the current year, which has already broken records.

### Krasnoyarsk Maternity Hospitals: A Symbol of Systemic Crisis

One of the most high-profile examples is the story of two maternity hospitals in Krasnoyarsk. In September, clinic staff recorded a video appeal to President Vladimir Putin, warning that closing the facilities put the lives of expectant mothers at risk. 'When a woman with bleeding is driven across the entire city, she might not make it at all. Simply losing a woman and a child,' doctors said, citing the head of state's regular statements about supporting families and motherhood. The appeal had no effect: both maternity hospitals were closed. According to Novaya-Evropa, this case is just one of hundreds of similar ones across the country.

### Methodology and Scale of the Study

To conduct the analysis, journalists used the deepseek-v4-flash language model to process posts from 571 regional Telegram channels and media outlets for the period from January 1, 2021, to November 8, 2026. Events in four sectors—healthcare, education, housing and communal services (gkh), and environmental protection—were highlighted in connection with five types of cuts: reduction of funding and salaries, consolidation and closure of budget institutions, equipment problems, reduction in staff numbers, and a decrease in the number of recipients of budget services. Cases related to the liquidation of covid units in 2020–2021 were excluded from the sample. According to the editorial board, about 8% of duplicates remain among the remaining records, and the real number of cuts may be higher than recorded, as some events do not make it into the news stream.

### The Trillion-Ruble Funding Gap

The financial analysis was carried out using consolidated budget data across four sections of the budget system. From healthcare and education expenditures, amounts that, according to the methodology of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), were directed toward military purposes were subtracted. The starting point was taken as 2021, after which the calculated expenditure dynamics were indexed for inflation. The result: medicine spent 728 billion rubles less from the budget during the war years than it should have under inflation indexing. In education, the gap amounted to 322 billion rubles. In total, the two key components of the social sphere are underfunded by at least one trillion rubles.

### From Concealment to Open Admission

Economist Sergei Aleksashenko noted in an interview with the YouTube channel The Breakfast Show that since 2026, officials have stopped hiding the reduction in social spending. 'Now, effectively… you start reading governors' Telegram channels, you start reading various social program assistants, and you see that this program has been cut, that program has been cut,' he stated. While officials previously avoided directly discussing social spending cuts, the reductions now feature in public statements by regional leaders.

### Ecology and Communal Services: Different Dynamics, Same Problem

The picture is different in the other two sectors of social infrastructure: spending on environmental protection exceeded the inflation level by 345 billion rubles, and on communal services by 1.35 trillion rubles. However, as Novaya-Evropa emphasizes, this does not indicate an improvement in the situation. Approximately 90% of the funds from the 'Environmental Protection' budget section go to subsidies for automakers, and only a small part is directly related to ecology. Meanwhile, the funding for communal services, where the number of accidents grows year after year, remains significantly lower than necessary for the stable and safe operation of infrastructure. LDPR deputy Alexander Rybalchenko noted in his speeches the shortage of narrow specialists: 'There is no ENT doctor, no ophthalmologist, no dermatologist, no oncologist.'

## Fact-Check & Sources

- [Регионы начали массово экономить на роддомах, школах и больницах. «Новая-Европа» обнаружила больше 200 случаев урезания социальных расходов с начала 2026 года. Это рекорд за всё время войны](https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/11/13/regiony-nachali-massovo-ekonomit-na-roddomakh-shkolakh-i-bolnitsakh) - Primary source. All figures and quotes are taken from this material. The analysis methodology (LLM, 571 channels, period 2021–2026) is described in the text. No independent confirmation of the figures was found.

## FAQ

### How many total cases of social sector cuts have been recorded since 2021?

According to Novaya-Evropa, more than 800 cases of cuts and closures in the social sphere have been detected since 2021. Over a quarter of them occurred in 2026, which became a record year.

### What is the scale of underfunding in healthcare and education?

According to Novaya-Evropa's calculations, taking into account inflation indexing from 2021, healthcare spent 728 billion rubles less, and education 322 billion rubles less. The total gap is at least one trillion rubles.

### How was the analysis conducted?

Journalists used the deepseek-v4-flash language model to process posts from 571 regional Telegram channels and media outlets from January 1, 2021, to November 8, 2026. Cases related to the liquidation of covid units in 2020–2021 were excluded from the sample.

### What is happening with spending on ecology and communal services?

Spending on environmental protection exceeded the inflation level by 345 billion rubles, and communal services by 1.35 trillion rubles. However, about 90% of funds from the 'Environmental Protection' section are directed to carmaker subsidies, and funding for communal services remains below what is necessary for safe operation.