Russia's finance minister says the heavily sanctioned country still has enough money to pay for its war in Ukraine

• Russia has enough money for its war in Ukraine, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.
• It plans to hike defense spending nearly 70% next year.

As heavily sanctioned Russia heads into the 23rd month of the conflict with Ukraine, the country's finance minister said it has enough money to pay for the war.

"The Finance Ministry provided all the funds required for the main tasks" of the military, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.

"All the needs of our armed forces for their tasks in the special military operation are provided with money," Siluanov added.

There's indication that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to push on in the war — in October, Moscow said it was planning to bump its defense spending by nearly 70% to 10.8 trillion rubles, or $119 billion, next year.

This year, Russia's budget spending is expected to reach 32.2 trillion rubles — busting its original budget by 3.1 trillion rubles or 11%.

Siluanov said on Wednesday that Moscow was able to spend more thanks to higher-than-expected revenue from the oil and gas sectors.

The apparent bump came even amid sweeping sanctions from the West over its invasion of Ukraine.

Siluanov said Russia held steady spending in other areas like infrastructure, investment, and social services, per Bloomberg.

Russia said it overcame European Union sanctions against its oil exports by diverting shipments to India and China. Alexander Novak, a Russian deputy prime minister, described the switch in a Wednesday TV interview.

Russia's economy has appeared to be resilient so far with the country reporting 5.5% GDP growth in the third quarter of this year.

However, its official economic statistics are nearly impossible to verify, and reports suggest that much of the country's growth is due to massive military and government spending.

Earlier this month, Alexandra Prokopenko, a former central bank official, said Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to solve a tricky "trilemma" as his country heads into 2024 with economic growth dependent on wartime activities.

Some analysts are more blunt about Russia's economic prospects: last week two Yale researchers described Russia's economy as "paralyzed" and listing a litany of factors suggesting hard times ahead.

Putin is seeking a fifth term in Russia's March presidential election after the rules were changed to accommodate his candidacy. He faces no significant opposition.