When Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February, the world was shocked. But also shocking, including to Russian leaders themselves, was how difficult the invasion turned out to be. 

Ukrainians came together and waged a courageous and effective resistance. Other countries contributed military aid. Another factor that has slowly come to light is the weakness of the Russian military. 

On Twitter, Andrei V. Kozyrev, the foreign minister for Russia under Boris Yeltsin, said, “The Kremlin spent the last 20 years trying to modernize its military. Much of that budget was stolen and spent on mega-yachts in Cyprus. But as a military advisor you cannot report that to the President. So they reported lies to him instead. Potemkin military.”

As the war continues on and shows signs of escalation, worries are growing about the possibility that other countries could get more involved, including the US. 

How does the U.S. military stack up to Russia’s?

Nuclear arsenal

The most important military capability to consider when thinking about any potential engagement between the US and Russia are nuclear weapons. 

The US and Russia have long been the two major nuclear powers and this is still the case today. Between them, the two countries possess roughly 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads. It is hard to determine the exact sizes of either country’s arsenal, as this is highly sensitive information. But estimates put the countries’ arsenals at roughly the same size, around 6,000 warheads. 

American soldiers are making contributions that go beyond being effective soldiers and leaders. America supports a free Ukraine, and thousands of American vets have gone to the frontlines of the battle to make that ideal a reality.