Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, now entering its third month, has seen devastating missile attacks striking cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol as Vladimir Putin’s forces adopt brutal siege warfare tactics, similar to those it has deployed in the past in Chechnya and Syria.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has meanwhile continued to lead the resistance from the streets of the capital, tirelessly rallying the international community for support.
At the country’s western border, an estimated 5 million people have now fled for neighbouring Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova, creating a major humanitarian crisis as the fighting persists in the east.
Russia has most recently concentrated its energies in securing the industrial heartland of the Donbas, where fierce fighting has raged between pro-Russia separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk since 2014.
The international community continues to denouce the Kremlin’s actions and have imposed tough economic sanctions on Russian banks, businesses, politicians and oligarchs as western corporations withdraw from the country, its sports stars are banned from international competitions and Mr Putin finds himself presiding over a pariah state on the world stage.
Nato members continue to extend diplomatic support, aid and weapons to Ukraine but refuses to impose a no-fly zone over the country for fear of being drawn into a much larger war over Eastern Europe, leaving the country in a lonely fight to retain its independence.
Although Russia’s military is significantly larger than Ukraine’s in every area, Mr Zelensky’s forces still pose a threat and at the very least can mount a defence against Russia’s ongoing invasion as the world has seen since the outbreak of war on 24 February.
Here’s a look at the combatant’s comparative capabilities.
How big is Ukraine’s air force?
According to the Flight International 2022 World Air Forces database, Ukraine’s Air Force had 210 military aircraft as of the war’s start date, including 98 combat aircraft.
These consist of Soviet-made MiG-29s and three types of Sukhoi jets.
However, Russia has a significantly larger military air force, with active aircraft totalling 3,863, according to Flight International’s database, with almost 15 times more combat planes than Ukraine.
Despite its smaller arsenal, Ukraine’s ministry of defence have claimed that, as of 26 April, it has downed an estimated 52 Russian aircraft in total.
How big is Russia’s army?
Since 2014-15, Ukraine has tripled its defence budget in an attempt to improve its military and also comply with standards demanded to join Nato as an entry requirement.
Javelin anti-tank guided missiles
The increased investment has helped Ukraine’s army measure up to Russia, although it had just 125,600 soldiers compared to Russia’s 280,000 at the outset of the present hostilities.
In terms of total military personnel, Russia’s 900,000 active men and women trumps Ukraine’s 196,600.
Ukraine also has 900,000 reserve personnel – those who have received military training in the last five years – compared with Russia’s 2 million.
They have more than three times the amount of artillery, six times the number of tanks and almost seven times more armoured vehicles than the Ukrainians.
A Russian cruiser conducting an artillery battle and destroying a mock enemy submarine in Black Sea near Sevastopol
Servicemen of Ukrainian Military Forces on the front-line with Russia-backed separatists near Novognativka village, Donetsk region, examine a Swedish-British portable anti-tank guided missile
