The Jump in Prosthetics Costs Reveals the Scale of russia’s Losses, Which the Authorities Are Concealing

During the hostilities of 2022–2024, at least 370,000 russians were wounded, resulting in disability. This is one of the most significant social consequences of the war against Ukraine, which russia’s authorities are trying to conceal by restricting official statistics and closing access to primary data.

An indirect indicator of the scale of the problem is the rapid increase in budget expenditures on prosthetics. The federal budget shows an unprecedented rate of growth in these appropriations: 37.2 billion rubles in 2022, 42.2 billion in 2023, and 55.8 billion in 2024. For 2025, 75.4 billion rubles have been allocated, and for 2026 – already 98.16 billion. Such acceleration is typical for situations when the state responds to a massive influx of new patients with severe injuries, including amputations and wounds related to combat operations.

For the russian authorities, the situation is becoming politically sensitive: rising costs of medical care for disabled veterans, escalating pressure on social funds, and a lack of reliable information create the risk of internal tension. It is precisely the likelihood of social unrest that explains the kremlin’s reluctance to disclose the real scale of the war’s consequences for russian society.