Andrzej Wilk asks “Is Russia preparing for a large-scale war?”
In total, these armed exercises involve over 200,000 soldiers and several thousand combat vehicles, hundreds of planes and helicopters, and about a hundred ships…… military spending has become the undisputed priority of Russia’s financial policy. For 2015, this will reach the value of 4.0% of GDP (compared to 3.5% of GDP in 2014), a rise of more than 10% in real terms (to a level of at least US$84 billion). The increase in the Russian army’s activity and military spending is being accompanied by an information campaign which is increasingly intense, and is being channelled to meet public expectations, according to which Russia must defend itself against the aggression of the West.
….At present, it is increasingly relevant to question whether the spiral of militarisation which the Kremlin has set in motion has already reached the point of no return. The only way out in such a situation would be, in the best case, to achieve a spectacular success along the lines of Russia reducing the whole of Ukraine to a vassal state… and in the worst case, for Moscow to start a war on a far bigger scale than its actions in Georgia in 2008, or currently in Ukraine.
Read more at Is Russia making preparations for a great war? | OSW.
How is this being financed. If by monetary financing , it may also be a way of boosting the economy. The multiplier of Russian military spending is probably north of 90%!
Even if bond financed it may be very stimulatory as the climate may be leading to the risk averse investing in state bonds.
I am not deny there are risks of the military kind, but even Putin would have to have some very substantive reason for a high count of body bags. The Russian people are not totally stupid as in yesterday year and the Internet is open (for now).