"Novaya Gazeta Europe" has published a comprehensive analysis suggesting that since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the domestic healthcare and education systems have lost at least one trillion rubles in funding from federal and regional budgets. According to the publication, both key social sectors have been financed below the inflation rate for several years, leading to a systemic "compression" of actual expenditure. Journalists estimate that healthcare received 728 billion rubles less than it would have had if indexed to inflation. In the education sector, the gap amounts to 322 billion rubles. Combined, these two areas represent the trillion rubles that were effectively diverted to military needs.
Eight Hundred Cases of Layoffs: The Statistics of "Tightening the Belt"
Beyond macroeconomic indicators, the researchers documented more than 800 specific instances of staff layoffs and facility closures in the social sector since 2021. Notably, more than a quarter of all recorded incidents occurred in 2026—a volume of cuts not seen in any previous year. In the first ten months of this year, the outlet identified more cost-cutting episodes in the social sector than in the entire year of 2025. While exact quantitative data for each region were not provided, the trend clearly indicates an acceleration of negative developments.
Not Only "Poor" Regions: The Geography of the Crisis
A significant finding of the study is that social spending cuts are not limited to traditionally poor federal subjects. In addition to Karelia and the Vladimir Region, which have historically had limited budgets, major austerity measures are being recorded in industrial and extractive territories: Kemerovo and Sverdlovsk regions, Krasnoyarsk Krai, and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). This indicates that the funding deficit is systemic and is not confined to the problems of individual depressed regions.
The End of the War Boom: Why 2025 Was a Turning Point
The authors of the study link the sharp increase in cuts starting in 2025 to the end of the so-called "war economic boom" of 2023–2024. During these two years, a significant portion of budgetary resources was concentrated on defense orders and related production chains, which made it possible to formally maintain funding levels for the social sphere. As this effect waned and the state's fiscal obligations to the military sector grew, the social sector became the first victim of redistribution. Indexation below inflation shifted from a temporary measure to a sustained practice, and the real losses in the budgets of hospitals, schools, and social institutions accumulate every year.
What This Means for Citizens
For the end-user of social services, the consequences of this chronic underfunding manifest as declining healthcare quality, a reduction in the number of practicing doctors and teachers, the closure of small hospitals and schools in provincial towns, and increased workloads on remaining staff. A trillion rubles lost over four years is not an abstract figure, but rather concrete unrealized equipment purchases, unpaid overtime, unrepaired buildings, and unfilled vacancies. Without a change in budgetary policy priorities, the trend identified by "Novaya Gazeta Europe" is highly likely to continue into 2027.
