With the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine entering its fourth year and a ceasefire not on the horizon, many are wondering which one has the upper hand in which areas, and who might eventually come out as the winner – until next time at least.
Indeed, with Russia’s territorial gains in Ukraine slowing down dramatically, the defending nation putting up a fierce fight, and the European Union threatening new sanctions against Moscow if it doesn’t agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, things are more complex on the ground than they appear.
Whose army is stronger, Russia or Ukraine?
Considering the brutality of the conflict, we were curious to find out how Ukraine stacks up to Russia’s military might in terms of manpower, financials, airpower, land power, and naval power, as well as how they compare in other, not-so-obvious arenas.
Overall, when it comes to numbers, Russia appears to be stronger in all categories except geography, making it far superior in all of the above areas. Let’s find out how they weigh against each other in more detail.
Manpower
Firstly, with 69 million individuals in its army, of which 46.19 million are fit-for-service, Russia has a lot more available manpower compared to Ukraine’s 18.19 million, of which 12.73 million are fit-for-service.
Every year, about 1.27 million young people reach military age in Russia, compared to 392,280 in Ukraine. The scales are slightly closer when it comes to active personnel, of which Russia has 1.32 million, and Ukraine 900,000.
Money
In financial terms, Russia outmatches Ukraine once again, thanks to its $126 billion defense budget that is substantially richer than Kiev’s $53.7 billion. Meanwhile, Moscow’s purchasing power is also a lot higher – at $5.82 trillion, as opposed to Ukraine’s $559.98 billion.
Being a much larger nation, Russia also has a greater external debt ($317.65 billion) than Ukraine ($132 billion), but also a more substantial foreign reserve ($597.21 billion vs. $40.51 billion).
Airpower
When it comes to airpower, the situation is also in Russia’s favor, as Russia has 4,292 aircraft in total, and the significantly smaller Ukraine has as little as 324. Among these, Moscow has 833 fighter aircraft and Kiev has only 72.
Land power
Furthermore, Russia has 5,750 tanks, while Ukraine has 1,114 of them. Additionally, the former holds much more power in armored vehicles – 131,527 as opposed to the latter’s 18,920.
When it comes to self-propelled artillery (SPA), an important component of ground fighting that supplies various projectiles, Moscow boasts 5,168 units, while Kiev has a mere 658.
Naval power
Finally, Russia’s naval force consists of 419 fleet units, whereas Ukraine has 89. The former has only one aircraft carrier, but that’s still better than the latter’s none.
With submarines, Russia has 63, and Ukraine again has zero. Russia also has 10 destroyers, 12 frigates, and 83 corvettes, and Kiev comes up empty-handed once more.
Settling the Russia vs. Ukraine score
All things considered, Russia does seem to be overwhelmingly stronger than Ukraine when it comes to its military fight. Having said that, people and firepower don’t necessarily mean an edge in a weaponized conflict. There’s strategy, motivation, improvisation, weather, and geography to consider.
Moreover, the final score also involves taking into consideration both sides’ allies and support, how much they contribute to the conflict in various aspects (e.g., weapons, ammo, training, and the like), how many volunteers are joining from where, and what they bring, and so on.
Elsewhere, if you’d like to find out how India and Pakistan stand against each other in military might, then check out this overview.
ReadNext
