Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Ukraine's Army No Match For Russia In Manpower, Weapons, Experience

Ukraine's Army No Match For Russia In Manpower, Weapons, Experience

Ukraine-Russia crisis: Ukraine's total active armed forces number 196,600, according to the authoritative IISS Military Balance report.

Ukrainian forces are defending against an invasion on three sides by a Russian military that is bigger, better armed and steeped in recent combat experience from Syria's civil war.

Missiles struck Ukrainian cities on Thursday, and Ukraine reported columns of troops pouring across its borders from Russia and Belarus and landing on its Black Sea and Azov Sea coasts.

Russia's objective remained unclear but the capital Kyiv was clearly a principal target, with President Vladimir Putin saying he intended to "strive for the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine".

"The Russian military command will be wanting to move very quickly, particularly to isolate and then take over Kyiv, to prevent a coherent Ukrainian defence from forming and, if they can, disrupt the movement of Ukrainian reserves," said Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the International

Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).


A Ukrainian presidential adviser said Hostomel airfield, northwest of the capital, had been captured by Russian forces - something Barry said would enable them to fly in extra hardware including light armoured vehicles to intensify the assault.

The Russian advances along the Azov Sea coast and near Kharkiv in the northeast also suggested an attempt to encircle Ukrainian forces in the east of the country, he said.

The United States estimated Russia had more than 150,000 troops massed around Ukraine's borders on the eve of the invasion, plus tens of thousands of Russian-backed fighters in breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine's total active armed forces number 196,600, according to the authoritative IISS Military Balance report released last week.

But while highly motivated to defend the country, and newly equipped with Turkish drones and U.S. and British anti-tank missiles, analysts say they are gapingly vulnerable, in particular to air and missile attack. Ukraine's navy is limited to one major warship and a dozen patrol craft, against the might of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

MOBILE VERSUS STATIC


Ukraine's experience from eight years of fighting with separatist forces in the east has been dominated by static World War One-style trench warfare.

By contrast Russia's forces showed in Syria, where they intervened on the side of President Bashar al-Assad, that they are capable of moving swiftly across large distances, assembling floating bridges to cross rivers, and synchronising ground manoeuvres with air and drone attacks.

Russia's air force delivered tens of thousands of air strikes, inflicting thousands of civilian casualties, according to the Syrian opposition. Tens of thousands of Russian service personnel saw duty in Syria, and senior land, air and special operations (Spetsnaz) personnel were cycled through tours of duty, according to Barry.

Russian soldiers gained extensive experience of urban warfare alongside Assad's allies from Lebanon's Hezbollah, which could prove valuable if battles ensue for major Ukrainian cities.

Analysts at Janes, a defence intelligence provider, said Russia had also used the Syrian intervention to test new and modernised air, ground and naval equipment including next-generation Su-57 fighter jets and Kalibr cruise missiles.

"To prevail against Russia, the Ukrainian forces are going to have to display a very high standard of tactics, be very bold and resolute and have a campaign plan that is superior to Russia's," said Barry.

"The one advantage the Ukrainians have got is they're fighting for their own country on their soil. Secondly, it appears large numbers of civilians are volunteering to fight alongside the armed forces, and that may make any Russian attacks on urban areas more difficult."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×