- Russia launched a $1.3 billion air assault on Ukraine this week.
- The attack used hundreds of UAVs and missiles, including Shahed strike drones and ballistic missiles.
- Inflation has soared in Russia on the back of heavy state spending on the war in Ukraine.
On August 26, Russia launched a massive air assault on Ukraine, deploying an array of missiles and drones that cost an estimated total of $1.26 billion, according to calculations by the Ukrainian outlet Ekonomichna Pravda (EP).
The Ukrainian air force said on Telegram that it had detected 127 missiles and 109 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the attack, which it said targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure. It added that it had shot down 102 of the missiles and 99 of the UAVs.
The munitions used included Kinzhal and Iskander ballistic missiles, Kalibr and Kh-101 cruise missiles, and Shahed strike drones, the air force said.
It added that Russia fired 77 Kh-101 missiles, which at an estimated cost of $10 million to $13 million each, accounted for the bulk of the expenditure.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies Missile Defense Project, the Kh-101 is a "stealthy missile" with a conventional warhead that is designed to "defeat air defense systems by flying at low, terrain-hugging altitudes to avoid radar systems."
The attack on Ukraine came amid soaring inflation and warnings of an overheating economy in Russia.
While heavy Russian defense spending on the war in Ukraine initially stimulated economic growth and quelled fears of a pending recession linked to Western sanctions, it has now led to rampant inflation, which hit 9.1% in July.
Russia's central bank hiked its key interest rate to 18% in July, saying inflation had "accelerated" and was "developing significantly" above its April forecast.
Russia's economic growth slowed to 4% in the second quarter of 2024, down from 5.4% in Q1, AFP reported in August, citing official data.
Maximilian Hess, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told BI that Putin was willing to put the entire Russian economy behind this war and that there were no signs of that changing. "There's no real pushback to it within the Russian elite, so that's not going to change."
But Hess said that with this scale of spending, Russia would eventually have to make significant budget reallocations or cuts in other areas because inflation was "getting out of control."