MOSCOW
As the US continues to warn of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv underlines that it is ready to defend itself militarily amid Moscow's emphasis on nuclear weapons and its strong army.
While military analysts agree that the Ukrainian army is stronger and more prepared compared to 2014, the capacity of the Russian military inventory draws attention.
Last year, Ukraine made military expenditures of $5.9 billion, or 4.1% of its gross domestic product (GDP), according to open-source data compiled by Anadolu Agency from Global Firepower (GFP), a website tracking defense-related information from 140 countries.
Russia, on the other hand, spent 4.3% of its GDP -- $61.7 billion -- on its military in 2021, indicated the figures from GFP's online analytical databases.
Russian air, land, sea superiority
While the Russian army has 850,000 active military personnel, 250,000 reserve troops, and 200,000 paramilitary forces, the Ukraine's army has 250,000 each of active military personnel and reserves, along with 50,000 paramilitary forces.
Russia's land advantage also extends to tanks, of which it has 12,420. It also has 30,122 armored vehicles, 6,574 self-propelled artillery, 7,571 towed artillery, and 3,391 mobile rocket launchers.
The Russian air force has 772 combat aircraft, including 739 attack aircraft, and more than 2,000 helicopters, while Ukraine holds 69 combat aircraft, of which 29 are attack aircraft, and about 60 helicopters.
With one aircraft carrier, 15 destroyers, 70 submarines, and 11 frigates, Russia's navy is also numerically stronger its Ukrainian counterpart, which has no destroyers or submarines and only one frigate.
Another major factor often cited by Russian officials is the number of nuclear warheads Moscow has, with an estimated 4,490 in the country's arsenal. Of these, 1,600 are currently deployed on ballistic missiles and strategic bombers.
Last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of amassing over 100,000 troops on Ukraine's border.
Russian officials repeatedly denied the allegations, slamming them as a "disinformation campaign" and "fakes" aiming to undermine Moscow's proposals on security guarantees.
