Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused shockwaves around the world, with Vladimir Putin moving his troops into the neighbouring country in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Throughout the day there have been explosions in Ukraine, as Russia looks to flex its muscles in terms of its armed forces.
How big is the Russian army?
The Russian military has 900,000 active-duty military personnel, which makes it the fourth-biggest largest military on the planet, while there are as many as two million reserve forces.
Russia is listed as having more than 4,000 aircraft and 1,500 helicopters, while they are also reported to have 13,000 tanks, 27,000 armoured fighting vehicles and nearly 6,000 self-propelled guns for artillery.
In terms of the country’s power at sea, the Russian navy has 600 ships, including one aircraft carrier, 15 destroyers, and 63 submarines.
How big is the Ukrainian army?
Ukraine’s armed forces consist of 361,000 troops, which is the second largest in the region after the Russian Armed Forces.
Able Ukrainian citizens have been encouraged to sign up following Russia’s invasion of the country, as the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has introduced martial law.
“To everyone in the Russian Federation who has not lost their conscience, it’s time to come out with protests against the war with Ukraine,” said Zelenskiy.
“I talked to [US president Joe] Biden, [UK prime minister] Johnson, [president of the European Council] Charles Michel, [Polish president Andrzej] Duda, [Lithuanian president Gitanas] Nauseda.
We started putting together an anti-Putin coalition. I have already urged global leaders to slam Putin with all possible sanctions, offer large-scale defence support and close the airspace over Ukraine for the aggressor. Together we must save Ukraine, save the democratic world, and we will do it.”
Ukraine’s troops have eight years of experience fighting Russia and its separatist allies.
