Ukraine vs. Russia: Military Mismatch, But Does That Mean No Contest? -- Space War/AFP
Russia has the world's second-ranked military after former Cold War foe the United States.
The armed forces in Ukraine, a former republic in the ex-Soviet Union, are much, much smaller.
But numbers don't tell the whole story. Other factors come into play in weighing which side might get the upper hand should war break out with a Russian invasion.
Chief among them is the fact that Moscow cannot send its entire military into Ukraine without leaving other parts of Russia defenceless.
And then there is Ukraine's home advantage, with much of the population opposed to Russian domination by force.
Read more ....
My Comment: There are a few parts in this analysis that I disagree with. One .... Ukraine is a deeply divided country .... especially after the corrupt but democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown in February. Many people may not like Moscow .... but many also do not like what has happened (and is happening) in Kiev. What makes this situation worse is that this division is occurring along cultural/linguistic lines .... a poisonous brew that Russia is exploiting to the full. Two .... the Ukraine military is ineffective as a fighting force. Loyalties are split, resources and equipment non-existent and/or broken down, the basics to keep a military moving completely inadequate, and .... more important for many of these young Ukrainian soldiers .... they will be facing a professional military with overwhelming firepower and determination .... a prospect that I will wager most of these young men do not want to find themselves in. Not surprising .... the morale in the Ukraine army (from what I am hearing in Ukraine itself) is almost zero. Three .... Ukraine's population has been traumatized by political and economic instability for years .... everyone is fed up with the poverty and corruption .... and many of them have given up on the political system. I will wager that many will not fight for a system that is corrupt from top to bottom. (4) Russia will not invade Ukraine not because it will be hard (it will not) .... they will not invade it because if they did .... they would then own the mess. Ukraine literally needs tens of billions of dollars in the short term .... as well as a clean and ethical police squad to stamp out the rampant corruption that exists throughout the country. I know that many Russians do not want to be responsible for this .... and I am also confident in saying that Putin does not want to be responsible for this mess either. But in the event that the worse case scenario does unfold and Russia does invade .... it will be because the interim government in Kiev decided to use lethal military force against the cities in eastern Ukraine .... causing bloodshed and a refugee crisis that I know would be totally acceptable to most (if not all) Russians.
Hat Tip: Thank you Benjamin for the Space War/AFP link.