Kremlin's chief arms dealer publicly admits to lack of funds - Center for Countering Disinformation

Despite the fact that the russian government is pouring astronomical sums into its military machine, key defense enterprises in the aggressor country are beginning to face serious financial difficulties. It was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD).

The Center noted that Sergey Chemezov, head of the state corporation “Rostec,” publicly acknowledged the problem: during a meeting with the russian Prime Minister, he stated that the company’s net profit for 2025 had plummeted by 42%.

As noted in the report, the reason is that weapons production in russia is becoming increasingly expensive. Sanctions have cut off direct access to Western technologies, and the overall deterioration of the russian economy, labor shortages, and inflation are also taking their toll. As a result, even the largest defense contractors are no longer able to maintain the production pace demanded by the kremlin on their own.

“Chemezov’s statement is a direct signal to the government that more money is needed to keep the system running. And for the Russian government, this is a serious challenge, because there is nowhere to get additional funds—the Russian Federation’s federal budget already has a record deficit. It is also futile to hope that Putin will decide to produce fewer weapons. For ordinary Russians, this means only one thing—preparing to tighten their belts even further,” the Center concluded.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, according to the Center for Countering Disinformation, russia is stepping up the recruitment of students to participate in the war.