Vladimir Putin is considering on increasing taxes in Russia to their highest levels since he first came to power more than 20 years ago.
The Russian finance ministry announced last week that it was thinking about introducing taxes for those on higher incomes and high corporation tax.
This is meant to raise more than £22.5billion, which Russia says will go towards regional spending – but many believe will actually fund the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion of its European neighbour has dragged out for more than two years, even though it was meant to be a brief operation.
Defence spending in Russia now exceeds 8% of the country’s GDP, and is taking up almost a third of Moscow’s state budget for this year.
Discussing the potential tax hikes last week, the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “This is a very serious initiative. It is really needed.”
But, Putin first became popular in 2001 when he introduced flat tax rate of 13%, which everyone paid.
This went up to 15% in 2021 for anyone earning over 5 million roubles (£43,500).
This new plan would involve making more people pay that 15% rate – meaning anyone earning between 2.5 million roubles (£20,800) and 5 million would have to pay it.
Other tax bands could also be introduced under the proposals, while corporation tax could increase from 20% to 25%.
This is just the latest way the general public in Russia are being affected by the war.
According to intelligence from the UK’s Ministry of Defence, Russia has likely experienced more than 500,000 casualties since the war began.
That works out to an average of more than 1,200 per day in May, which the MoD describes as the “highest reported since the start of the war”.
The MoD said: “It is highly likely that most Russian forces receive only limited training and they are unable to carry out complex offensive operations.”