$131 million in one night: Ukraine intelligence reveals staggering cost of Russian air assault

Russia spent more than $131 million USD on a single night of air attacks on Ukraine on 20 January, an amount comparable to the annual budget of a mid-sized Russian city, Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) said in a statement.

The overnight barrage struck energy infrastructure across at least nine oblasts, triggering blackouts, heating failures, and water outages as temperatures dropped to -15°C - the latest in a sustained Russian campaign to break Ukrainian resistance by weaponizing winter.

According to HUR, Russian forces launched a total of 372 weapons. These included Iskander ballistic missiles, a Zircon hypersonic missile, Kh-101 cruise missiles, RM-48U training missiles, and drones of the Geran, Garpia, and Gerbera types.

What $131 million could have bought

HUR said the total cost of the weapons used exceeded $131 million USD, or more than 10.2 billion rubles. The agency noted that this is roughly equal to the amount the Russian city of Veliky Novgorod, with a population of about 220,000, lives on for an entire year.

The sum is also comparable to around one third of the annual budgets of Russia's Kalmykia region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, according to the statement. HUR said the same amount could have funded a fully equipped modern oncology center or hundreds of regional and national social programs.

Russia's mounting financial strain

The intelligence agency said the strike took place as Russia faces growing financial strain. Last year, Russia's budget deficit reached 5.6 trillion rubles, or about $70 billion USD, roughly 2.6% of GDP.

To continue funding the war, Moscow has been forced to raise taxes and excise duties while cutting spending on social programs and state investment projects, HUR said.

Russia's economic pressure is mounting across its regions, with provincial budgets cracking under war spending while civilian industries fall behind. Moscow reportedly plans to spend $183 billion on defense and security in 2026 - nearly 40% of federal expenditures - even as its liquid National Wealth Fund has shrunk from roughly $185 billion to $35.7 billion.

Terror over diplomacy

Despite public claims about seeking peace and signs of economic and social stress, Russia continues to allocate large sums to what HUR described as a war of aggression against Ukrainian civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that at least some of the missiles used in the attack were produced by Russia this year, "underscoring once again how vital it is for global sanctions and restrictions on critical component supplies to actually work."

The cost of defense: $94 million in interceptors for one night

Russia isn't the only one paying. Defending against the 20 January barrage cost Ukraine approximately €80 million (about $94 million USD) in air defense missiles alone, Zelenskyy revealed the same day. PAC-3 Patriot missiles cost around $3.7 million USD each.

Some Ukrainian air defense systems had been operating without ammunition until 16 January - just days before the attack hit.

"War is an extremely expensive Russian luxury, and for us it results in severe losses," Zelenskyy said. "It is very hard to mobilize all this funding for the missiles."