Russian regions are increasingly revising payments to citizens who sign contracts with the Defense Ministry as their budgets deteriorate. In Yakutia, the authorities acknowledged on November 21 that regional bonuses had been temporarily suspended: Finance Minister Ivan Alekseyev said it was impossible to estimate in advance how many people would claim them, adding that the funds were later found.
In summer 2025, Yakutia raised its regional payment to 1.8 million rubles; together with the federal 400,000 rubles and municipal supplements, the total could reach 2.7 million. At the same time, the republic faces a budget deficit: it is projected at 2.8 billion rubles in 2025 and 7.6 billion in 2026, while revenues are expected to fall by 19.5 billion. Against that backdrop, the authorities are cutting spending, including in education.
According to Vedomosti, the combined deficit of Russia’s regional budgets reached nearly 170 billion rubles over the first nine months of the year, compared with a surplus of 849 billion a year earlier. In October, at least nine regions reduced contract bonuses to 400,000 rubles, the minimum level recommended for regions alongside the federal payment. These included Samara Region, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Chuvashia and Mari El.
In some regions, however, payments increased. In the Khanty-Mansi autonomous district, the regional portion was raised to 3.5 million rubles, and the total one-time payment reached 4.1 million. In Tyumen Region, the amount rose from 1.9 million to 3.4 million rubles, even though the region is also among the country’s most deficit-ridden.
German economist Jannis Kluge, who tracks recruitment in Russia, estimates that around 30,000 people a month are now signing contracts, with almost 38,000 in October. He suggests that some regions have already spent a substantial share of their resources on recruitment and are therefore being forced to cut payouts.
Kluge argues that a key source of funding has been the federal program for writing off regional debt. It allows freed-up funds to be redirected, including under spending linked to the “special military operation.” His conclusion is that poorer regions are not financing these costs fully on their own: a significant part of the burden is effectively being absorbed by the federal center through debt relief.