Military power of Russia & Ukraine
Russia vs Ukraine
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Russia is a country located in North Asia bordering the Arctic Ocean with an area of 17,098,242 km2 (land boundries: 22,407 km and costline 37,653 km). The capital of Russia is Moscow. The number of inhabitants is 146,171,015.
On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine with an estimated 150 k troops. Russia is the leading member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The Russian Federation's military is equipped with domestically-produced weapons systems. Russia is the world's second largest exporter of military hardware and has the world's largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.
More about Russia militaryUkraine is a country located in Eastern Europe with an area of 603,500 km2 (land boundries: 5,581 km and costline 2,782 km). The capital of Ukraine is Kiev. The number of inhabitants is 41,487,960.
During the 2008 Bucharest summit, NATO declared that Ukraine would eventually become a member of NATO when it meets the criteria for accession. In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian military is equipped mostly with older Russian and Soviet-era weapons systems. Ukraine has a broad defense industry capable of building Soviet-era land systems and maintaining and upgrading Soviet-era combat aircraft, as well as missile and air defense systems.
More about Ukraine militaryIf you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out Russia - Ukraine
Military expenditures
 RU |  UA | |
|---|---|---|
| Military budget: | 65.9 billion $ | 10.4 billion $ |
| Percent of GDP: | 4.1% | 6% |
Manpower
| RU | UA | |
|---|---|---|
| Active personnel: | 1,000,000 | 700,000 |
| Reserve personnel: | 2,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Available for military: | 34,765,736 | 11,149,646 |
Land Forces
| RU | UA | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanks: | 12,267 | 1,462 | |
| Armoured fighting vehicles: | 24,172 | 5,739 | |
| Total artillery: | 18,266 | 3,636 | |
| Self-propelled artillery: | 6,443 | 899 | |
| Rocket artillery: | 4,331 | 693 |
Air Forces
| RU | UA | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total aircraft: | 4,418 | 297 | |
| Fighter aircraft: | 340 | 57 | |
| Multirole aircraft: | 382 | 0 | |
| Attack aircraft: | 689 | 27 | |
| Helicopters: | 1,665 | 115 | |
| UCAV (combat drone): | 100 | 12 |
Navy
| RU | UA | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total naval: | 653 | 53 | |
| Aircraftcarriers: | 1 | 0 | |
| Destroyers: | 14 | 0 | |
| Frigates: | 11 | 1 | |
| Corvettes: | 80 | 0 | |
| Submarines: | 66 | 0 |
☢ Nuclear weapons
Russia
The second most important state when it comes to researching, developing, and then storing nuclear weapon. Although the Russians managed to catch up with Americans later on, it was only in 1949 that the first nuclear test conducted by then the Soviet Union occurred. It was still quite a surprise for the Western Powers, who believed that Russia won’t be capable of producing nuclear warheads until 1953-1954. After the first test, the nation in question started to rapidly increase the amount of warheads they possessed. In the end of 1980s, they were the leading power when it comes to total number of warheads stored. It was approximately 40,000 warheads.
Nowadays, similarly to United States, the Russians store a total number of 6490 warheads, what is scarcely more than USA. When it comes to the number of deployed warheads, the amount is the same as in case of Americans, namely 1600 deployed warheads. We should also remember about the fact that Russia conducted over 700 tests, what makes them the second most important nation when it comes to developing nuclear weapons. However, it was the Soviet Union that managed to create the biggest bomb in the world. Known as Tsar Bomba, it had blast yield of 50 megatons of TNT.
Ukraine
Although Ukraine has never produced its own nuclear weapon to this day, we should bear in mind that back in the days, Ukraine possessed approximately 5,000 nuclear weapons. This is all due to the fact that before 1991, Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union. However, as a consequence of its dissolution, all the countries that were satellites or were forcefully attached to Soviet Union, received number of warheads. They were once the property of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, after Ukraine became independent, they received everything that was the part of the USSR, even nuclear warheads. As a result of that, Ukraine became the third largest holder of nuclear weapons in the world.
Ukraine decided to get rid of these weapons quite quickly. Three years later, in 1994 that is, they joined Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 1996, all the warheads were moved and disassembled in Russia.
Military service
Russia
18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; males are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; 1-year service obligation (conscripts can only be sent to combat zones after 6 months of training); reserve obligation for non-officers to age 50; enrollment in military schools from the age of 16, cadets classified as members of the armed forces.
Ukraine
18-27 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation is 18 months