Putin to increase funds for Russian defence

Thailand News.Net
Tuesday 16th September, 2008

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said Russia's defence spending will increase 27 percent in 2009.

Putin said nearly 2.4 trillion rubles would be allocated for the needs of national defence and security.

The announcement comes on the heels of Russia's crushing defeat of Georgian forces on the former Soviet republic's soil.

President Dmitry Medvedev said last week that the five-days of fighting in Georgia showed the need for a full-blown modernisation of the military and updating of hardware.

Putin hiked the defence budget during his eight-year presidency to match the country's resurgent economic might.

But defence analyst and military brass warn that internal reform and investment in research and development is also needed to stall the army's decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

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