Putin: Operation in Syria cost Russia $485 million
Russia’s military action in Syria has cost about 33 billion rubles ($485 million), according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"The military operation in Syria, of course, required certain spending but the main part was from Defense Ministry’s resources - around 33 billion rubles. This was included in the ministry’s 2015 budget for holding drills and military training. We just redirected these resources for supporting the group in Syria," Putin said on Thursday.
On March 14th, Putin unexpectedly announced the withdrawal of the “main part of Russian forces from Syria”. It is unclear how many Russian soldiers an aircraft will remain in the war-torn country.
As previously reported, RBC estimated that the Kremlin spent roughly 38 billion rubles on the war in Syria in the midst of an economic crisis in Russia due to sanctions and low oil prices.