At the end of 2025, the Russian Federation is facing an escalation of socio-economic tension, manifested in a sharp increase in citizens’ complaints about violations of labor rights, particularly due to unpaid wages.
This is reported by Finway
Increase in Complaints and Wage Arrears
According to official data from Rostrud, at the beginning of December 2025, the number of appeals regarding violations of labor rights in the Russian Federation exceeded 70,000. This is almost one and a half times more than in the same period last year. The most significant increase was recorded in the category of complaints about wage delays — there were over 26,000 such cases, which is 60% more than last year. The number of appeals regarding illegal dismissals also increased significantly — by 33%.
“Wage arrears have become one of the key trends of the year. By the end of October, total debts reached 2.2 billion rubles, increasing by almost 11% in a month,” writes the SZRU.
Economic Dependence on Military Spending
Compared to the same period in 2024, the total wage arrears in the Russian Federation have tripled, reaching the highest level since August 2020. At the same time, despite official statements about economic growth, the structure of this growth demonstrates a critical dependence on the military-industrial complex. Two-thirds of this year’s GDP growth was provided by the defense production sector, which operates in a three-shift mode. In the third quarter, out of a 0.6% economic growth, 0.4 percentage points were attributed to public administration and security provision. The share of the military-industrial complex in the structure of new GDP has nearly tripled compared to last year: while last year it accounted for only one point of the 4.3% growth, its contribution has significantly increased now.
At the same time, corporate profits for the first nine months of 2025 decreased by 7.7%. This significantly raises the risks of wage payment delays, leading to an increase in credit debt, problems in the banking sector, and a potential large-scale economic crisis.
As of December 1, 2025, the volume of unpaid installments for new constructions reached 1.5 trillion rubles, which constitutes 17% of all contracts signed. Such trends indicate that the formal GDP growth in Russia is increasingly based on military spending, while the socio-economic situation continues to deteriorate.