"According to a rough estimate which needs verification...Russia's spending on the war in South Ossetia amounted to 2.5 billion rubles ($101.7 million) per day," the Nezavisimaya Gazeta said.
The estimate, based on figures from the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, included the costs of deploying some 30,000 troops, armored vehicles, equipment and naval vessels sent to South Ossetia after Georgia launched an attack on the rebel region August 8, the paper said.
No details are available as to how much compensation the families of those killed and injured in the conflict will receive. Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn said August 13, that 74 Russian soldiers had died in the conflict with a further 171 injured. A further 19 Russian service personnel are reported missing.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta said that the bulk of Russia's spending in South Ossetia, 1.2 billion rubles ($48.8 mln) per day, went on fuel. No details are available on losses and damage to military hardware, but the downing of three Russian Su-25 Frogfoot aircraft and a Tu-22M3 Backfire strategic bomber is thought to have cost Russia over 2.5 billion rubles ($101.7 million).
Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Monday Russia planned to allocate 10 billion rubles ($407 million) in 2009 for the reconstruction of Tskhinvali, South Ossetia's capital, and the republic, and that at least a further 3 billion rubles ($122 million) would be required later this year.
The figures bring total expenditure on post-war operations and reconstruction in South Ossetia to at least 13 billion rubles ($529 million), according to the paper.
In comparison the United States spends $10 billion per month on the war in Iraq and a further $2 billion in Afghanistan, according to figures released by the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
