Page 9 - bne IntelliNews Russia OUTLOOK 2025

1,000kg of explosive and as they are next to impossible to shoot down, as they fall more than fly, they have proved devastating against Ukraine’s defences. Russia has tens of thousands of these in stock and has been firing up to 500 per day.
Ukraine has been resupplied recently as the Biden administration surged deliveries before President Donald Trump took over, and has received armaments such as long-range missiles. At the same time, the EU finally delivered the promised 1mn artillery shells nine months late that have given Ukraine parity in artillery fire again for the first time since 2022, but all this help is too little, too late.
At the time of writing, the prospects for a ceasefire deal have been improving as Ukraine’s allies have begun to talk about sending peacekeepers to police a mooted demilitarised zone that is widely assumed to be part of any deal. However, the prospects of talks remain very uncertain, as neither Putin nor Zelenskiy appear willing to soften their maximalist demands. Everyone is waiting to see what Trump will do.
Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Andrei Belousov spoke at an expanded meeting of the Defence Ministry with a report on the situation at the front and in the rear on December 16, and for the first time Belousov warned that Russia would prepare for a military conflict with Nato.
According to Belousov, only 1% of the territory of Luhansk and 25-30% of the territory of the Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions remain under the control of the AFU.
National defence spending "already today" has reached 6.3% of GDP and 32.5% of the federal budget, Belousov said. In connection with this, the Defence Ministry will need to "bring order" to the property complex in 2025. "We cannot increase these expenses indefinitely either," Putin admitted, noting that the Russians are already giving "everything they can."
Domestic politics
Putin’s political repressions intensified in 2024 as “justification of terrorism” overtook “defaming the Russian army” as the main charge. Most of those arrested had posted negative comments on social media as the Kremlin attempts to keep a tight control over public opinion.
Russia’s authorities continue to crack down on opposition figures and journalists they have designated “foreign agents.” New measures ban earning income from their Russian assets online such as the sale or rental of property, through dividends or as interest on savings. In short,
9 Russia OUTLOOK 2025 www.intellinews.com