The RUSI realized that the British Army and its NATO allies are critically short of ammunition and artillery. This means that they will struggle to maintain a sound defence position if the Russians decide to launch an all-out offensive.
In the Russian military campaign in 2014, troops crossed Ukraine and illegally annexed Crimea. Now that Ukraine and Russia are in a tiff, the international army alliance is keen to avoid a history seeking to repeat itself.
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, announced an attack on Donbas. Russia then called on Ukraine to drop its weapons but a war had already begun. Putin has been warned by the NATO allies, US, UK and, other NATO countries against the same expansionist policies that upset Ukraine in 2014.
Russia owns 9,00,000 military personnel. Around 2,00,000 of them were active at the Ukraine border before the invasion. Approximately 20,000 armoured fighting vehicles and 13,300 tanks are also available to the Russian armed forces. More than 500 helicopters and 1300 aircraft comprise the Russian air force.
Russians also have 500 missile launchers capable of long-range warfare. The president also talked about its hypersonic missiles recently. It travels at the speed of more than Mach 5. There are currently no means for intercepting them. There might be some missiles that travel at higher speeds, for example, Kh-47M2 that can reach Mach 5.
Ukraine’s Army Size
There is no doubt that the Russian army is more significant than the Ukraine army. Ukraine’s army is one-fifth of the Russian one. Ukraine’s navy does not own any submarines and has only 2 warships whereas Russia has 51 submarines and 74 warships.
The Ukrainian army has stationed around 2,100 tanks, 2,870 armoured fighting vehicles, and 2,000 pieces of artillery. Ukraine only has one-tenth part of what is the Russian air force. Ukraine’s defence budget amounts to 11.8 billion dollars while Russia has a defence budget of 154 billion dollars. There is a very obvious difference in the military potency of the neighbouring countries.
NATO vs Russia
NATO is constantly criticizing the decisions made by the Russian government. It remarked, “reckless and unprovoked” when Russia attacked Ukraine. NATO warned that the Russian president had “chosen the path of aggression”, putting innocent civilian lives at risk.
Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO, said that “despite our repeated warnings and communications with Russia,” Russia’s actions break the international laws and undermine security.
Stoltenberg said, “Russia must cease its military aggression immediately and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” He also said that the Ukrainian people are in his prayers and thoughts. As a reply to the invasion, Poland called on NATO to reinforce its eastern flank. “NATO will do whatever it takes to protect and defend all allies.”
Who will win?
The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) conducted research in 2019 once. It stated that England’s forces would be “hugely outgunned” if they ever encountered Russia across eastern Europe. The RUSI realized that the British Army and its NATO allies are critically short of ammunition and artillery.
This means that they will struggle to maintain a sound defence position if the Russians decide to launch an all-out offensive. RUSI also concludes that England is at risk of being dominated by powers at the bottom of the escalation ladder, forces that might boom in the future.
However, the UK need not face Russia alone. Aleksandr Golts, a Russian military analyst for Deutsche Welle, says that America has an advantage in conventional forces over Russia. Felgenhauer acknowledged that the US has a military advantage, but he cautioned that open warfare is more than what each side can offer.
Published by: Shivani Bhalke
Edited by: Subbuthai Padma
