How many soldiers does Russia have? The Russian Armed Forces had 3.57 million troops as of 2025, with 37 percent of them, or 1.32 million, being active military personnel. Two million were reserve service members, and 250,000 were paramilitary forces. The number of people in the Russian military was increased twice after the invasion of Ukraine; the respective presidential decrees came into force in January and December 2023. Largest armies worldwide The Russian Army had the fourth-largest available active military manpower in 2025, having shared that rank with North Korea. The militaries of China, India, and the United States had more active soldiers. In terms of defense spending, Russia ranked third after the U.S. and China. Military personnel of Ukraine and NATO Russia’s active troops outnumbered Ukraine’s by 420,000 as of 2025. Furthermore, reserve and paramilitary forces of Russia were higher. When comparing Russia’s active military personnel to that of the countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), it was roughly 2.6 times smaller. In total, NATO members were estimated to over 3.4 million troops, including active, reserve, and paramilitary units. The U.S., Turkey, and Poland have the largest armies in NATO.

Russia's military capabilities outnumbered those of Ukraine for most indicators as of 2025. For example, the number of aircraft at the disposal of the Russian Army was close to 4,300, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces possessed 324 aircraft. Russia's naval fleet was 4.7 times larger than Ukraine's. Moreover, Russia was one of the nine countries that possessed nuclear weapons. As of early 2024, Russia held the world's largest inventory of nuclear warheads. How many soldiers does Ukraine have? Ukraine's Army counted approximately 2.2 million military personnel as of 2025. Of them, 900,000 were active military staff. Furthermore, 1.2 million soldiers were part of the country's reserve forces. To compare, Russia had approximately 1.32 million active military personnel and two million of reserve military personnel. Russia's active soldier count was the fourth-largest worldwide, while Ukraine's ranked sixth. Ukraine's tank strength Ukraine's Armed Forces possessed over 1,100 tanks as of 2025, which was more than five times less than Russia's. To support Ukraine during the Russian invasion, several Western countries made commitments to deliver tanks to Ukraine, including Leopard 2, Challenger 2, and M1 Abrams. Furthermore, Ukraine received other types of armored vehicles from Western countries, such as M133 armored personnel carriers from the United States and Mastiff (6x6) protected patrol vehicles from the United Kingdom.

As of 2025,the combined forces of NATO had approximately 3.44 million active military personnel, compared with 1.32 million active military personnel in the Russian military. The collective military capabilities of the 32 countries that make up NATO outnumber Russia in terms of aircraft, at 22,377 to 4,957, and in naval power, with 1,143 military ships, to 419. In terms of ground combat vehicles, NATO had an estimated 11,495 main battle tanks, to Russia's 5,750. The combined nuclear arsenal of the United States, United Kingdom, and France amounted to 5,559 nuclear warheads, compared with Russia's 5,580. NATO military spending In 2024, the combined military expenditure of NATO states amounted to approximately 1.47 trillion U.S. dollars, with the United States responsible for the majority of this spending, as the U.S. military budget amounted to 967.7 billion dollars that year. The current U.S. President, Donald Trump has frequently taken aim at other NATO allies for not spending as much on defense as America. NATO member states are expected to spend at least two percent of their GDP on defense, although the U.S. has recently pushed for an even higher target. As of 2024, the U.S. spent around 3.38 percent of its GDP on defense, the third-highest in the alliance, with Estonia just ahead on 3.43 percent, and Poland spending the highest share at 4.12 percent. US aid to Ukraine The pause in aid to Ukraine from the United States at the start of March 2025 marks a significant policy change from Ukraine's most powerful ally. Throughout the War in Ukraine, military aid from America has been crucial to the Ukrainian cause. In Trump's first term in office, America sent a high number of anti-tank Javelins, with this aid scaling up to more advanced equipment after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The donation of around 40 HIMARs rocket-artillery system, for example, has proven to be one of Ukraine's most effective offensive weapons against Russia. Defensive systems such as advanced Patriot air defense units have also helped protect Ukraine from aerial assaults. Although European countries have also provided significant aid, it is unclear if they will be able to fill the hole left by America should the pause in aid goes on indefinitely.

Starting from December 1, 2024, the Russian Armed Forces would count nearly 2.4 million personnel. Of them, over 60 percent had to be on active duty. The size of the Russian Army was increased three times after the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.

The Levada Center has been conducting omnibus surveys of the Russian population on a regular basis. This data collection includes questions about the attitude towards compulsory military conscription vs. a contract-based professional army plus a question about the capability of the Russian army - together with standard socio-demographic and political data about all respondents. This data collection contains the raw data from a total of 32 opinion polls conducted from 1997 to 2021.

The documentation of data collection documents the questions included in the dataset and provides information about the random-sample questionnaire-based nationally representative polls conducted as omnibus surveys. The original data file is in Russian, but the documentation lists all questions and answer options with an English translation.

Included in this data collection are the relevant questions from the Levada omnibus surveys copied into one file. The SPSS file (.sav) is the original files provided by the Levada Center. It has been exported into an Excel file. The content of the respective xlsx-file should be identical with the original sav-file. An overview of some selected results is included in the data collection as separate file.

In this version the technical description and the documentation of data collection have been corrected, as they included a reference to the wrong dataset. The actual dataset has not be changed.

This scatter chart displays male population (people) against armed forces personnel (people) in Russia. The data is about countries per year.

The Levada Center has been conducting omnibus surveys of the Russian population on a regular basis. This data collection includes questions about the attitude towards Western sanctions against Russia (enacted after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022) together with standard socio-demographic and political data about all respondents. It contains the raw data from a total of 32 opinion polls conducted from 1997 to 2021.

This documentation of data collection documents the questions included in the dataset and provides information about the random-sample questionnaire-based nationally representative polls conducted as omnibus surveys. The original data file is in Russian, but this documentation lists all questions and answer options with an English translation.

Included in this data collection are the relevant questions from the Levada omnibus surveys copied into one file. The SPSS file (.sav) is the original files provided by the Levada Center. It has been exported into an Excel file. The content of the respective xlsx-file should be identical with the original sav-file. An overview of some selected results is included in the data collection as separate file.

Among the respondents in Russia, the lowest level of public support toward the actions of Russian military forces in Ukraine was recorded among the population aged 18 to 24 years, at around 66 percent in April 2025. In the age group of 55 years and above, that share stood at over 80 percent. Russian forces invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Overall, eight out of ten Russians supported the military actions.

This scatter chart displays armed forces personnel (people) against urban population living in areas where elevation is below 5 meters (% of total population) in Russia. The data is about countries per year.

As of May 2025, China had the largest armed forces in the world by active duty military personnel, with about *********** active soldiers. India, the United States, North Korea, and Russia rounded out the top five largest armies. Difference between active and reserve personnel Active personnel, also known as active duty in the United States and active service in the United Kingdom, are those individuals whose full-time occupation is being part of a military force. Active duty contrasts with a military’s reserve force, which are individuals who have both a military role and a civilian career. The number of active duty forces in the U.S. is much larger than its reserve membership. What is the strongest army? The strength of a country’s armed forces is not only determined by how many personnel they maintain, but also the number and quality of their military equipment. For example, looking only at personnel does not factor in the overwhelmingly higher number of nuclear warheads owned by Russia and the United States compared to other countries. One way to answer this question is to look at the total amount of money each country spends on their military, as spending includes both personnel and technology. In terms of countries with the highest military spending, the United States leads the world with an annual budget almost ***** times larger than second-placed China.

This scatter chart displays suicide mortality rate (per 100,000 population) against armed forces personnel (people) in Russia. The data is about countries per year.

Russia had the most powerful military in Europe according to its PowerIndex score of ****, which compares the strength and capability of different countries. According to this ranking, as of 2025, the UK had the second-strongest military in Europe, followed by France and then Turkey.

Attitudes of East German young people. Topics: relation between civilian population and People's Police; military purpose of the People's Police; relation between members of the People's Police and Russian troops; attitudes to the People's Police; internal conviction of members of the People's Police; voluntariness of membership in the People's Police; flight of members of the People's Police into the west; reputation of Russian troops in the civilian population; frequency of contact between Russian troops and the German civilian population; personal acquaintance with Russian soldiers; listening to western radio stations by Russian soldiers; change of views of Russian soldiers about the West from their stay in Germany. Demography: age; occupation; education; sex; state; city. Einstellungen ostdeutscher Jugendlicher. Themen: Verhältnis zwischen Zivilbevölkerung und Volkspolizei; militärischer Zweck der Volkspolizei; Verhältnis zwischen Volkspolizisten und russischen Truppen; Einstellungen zur Volkspolizei; innere Überzeugung der Mitglieder der Volkspolizei; Freiwilligkeit der Mitgliedschaft in der Volkspolizei; Flucht von Volkspolizisten in den Westen; Ansehen russischer Truppen in der Zivilbevölkerung; Kontakthäufigkeit zwischen russischen Truppen und der deutschen Zivilbevölkerung; persönliche Bekanntschaft mit russischen Soldaten; Hören westlicher Radiosender durch russische Soldaten; Veränderung der Ansichten russischer Soldaten über den Westen durch ihren Aufenthalt in Deutschland. Demographie: Alter; Beruf; Bildung; Geschlecht; Land; Ort.

Since 1996, the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr (ZMSBw) has conducted a representative survey of the German population on defense and security policy issues on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Defense. In 1996, this study was continued. For this purpose, N = 2568 persons were interviewed on various issues. The present survey focused in particular on Security and threat perception, attitudes toward security policy, foreign deployments of the Federal Armed Forces, tasks of the Federal Armed Forces, the role of conscription, and military cooperation in Europe. Perception of security and threats: personal feeling of security; personal significance of various aspects of security (e.g. job security, military security, social security, security of income, ecological security, etc.) Interest in politics in general, in foreign policy, in security and defence policy as well as interest in the Federal Armed Forces; security policy interest at the beginning of the 1980s; security policy strategy of ´deterrence´ as a guarantee for peace in Europe, necessary Realpolitik or a threat to humanity; advocacy or rejection of military force; change in personal attitude towards military force; Reasons for change of attitude; reasons for not changing attitudes; personal relationship to the peace movement in the early 1980s and today; opinion on pacifism; opinion on the extent of public debate on security policy issues and on the Federal Armed Forces; future development of the number of international conflicts after the end of the Cold War; likelihood of a military threat to Germany; feeling threatened by: environmental destruction, violence, hatred, crime, unemployment, world wars, right-wing extremism, financial problems, new technologies, diseases and population growth; threat to world peace from various countries and regions (Islamic states, Third World, Russia, Central/Eastern Europe, USA, Western Europe, Germany, Middle East, China); current that will prevail worldwide in the future (national or nationalist thinking vs. voluntary cooperation and interdependence); assessment of nationalist thinking; assessment of voluntary cooperation; suitability of various institutions and instruments to protect Germany against military risks (NATO membership, other/ new treaties with neighbouring countries, United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), Federal Armed Forces, European Army, general disarmament, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)). 2. Security policy attitudes, foreign missions of the Federal Armed Forces: Germany´s role in the world: preference for a rather active vs. rather passive international policy of Germany; approved or rejected measures for Germany´s international action (e.g. aid with food and medicine, aid of a financial and economic nature, technical aid by civil organisations, peacekeeping mission of the Federal Armed Forces within the framework of a UN mission, etc.); opinion on the peace-keeping mission of the Federal Armed Forces in various countries and regions (Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, South-East Asia, Africa, NATO states, Western Europe; opinion on the future role of a state´s military power; opinion on the future staffing level of the Federal Armed Forces; assessment of Germany´s defence expenditure; general attitude towards the Federal Armed Forces. 3. Evaluation of public institutions: Institutional trust (Federal Constitutional Court, other courts, police, Bundesrat, state government, Federal Armed Forces, Bundestag, television, press, churches, trade unions, federal government, education, political parties); reliance on the Federal Armed Forces. 4. Attitude towards compulsory military service: Military service or alternative civilian service more important for society; decision for or against various community services (care of the sick, care of the elderly, military service/defence, care of the disabled, environmental protection/remedy of environmental damage, care of children in need of help, service with the police, border guards or fire brigade); community service which the interviewee would be most likely to opt for social service most likely to be refused; general attitude towards military service; opinion on the right to conscientious objection; frequency of different reasons for conscientious objection (religious reasons, military service as time lost, political reasons, military service not compatible with conscience, civilian service as a more convenient way, economic reasons, civilian service with greater benefit to society); general compulsory military service retained vs. conversion into a voluntary army; future of the Federal Armed Forces (Federal Armed Forces should be abolished, citizen´s army based on the Swiss model, purely voluntary army, current mix of conscripts, professional and temporary soldiers should be retained, fewer professional and temporary soldiers more military exercises for former soldiers); preference for the future of the Federal Armed Forces. 5. Tasks of the Federal Armed Forces: Preferences with regard to the tasks of the Federal Armed Forces (tasks of international arms control, fight against international terrorism, fight against international drug trafficking, border security against illegal immigrants, tasks in the field of environmental protection, international disaster relief, humanitarian aid and rescue services, reconstruction and development aid, international military advice, Combat operations on behalf of and under the control of the UN or other international organisations, peacekeeping operations on behalf of and under the control of the UN or international organisations, protection of the constitutional order in Germany, participation in celebrations and ceremonies, education and character building, defence of Germany, defence of allies, aid for threatened friendly nations); evaluation of the deployment of German soldiers in various UN missions with regard to: care of the suffering population, promotion of the international community, integration of Germany, strengthening of German national interests, stabilisation of world peace, strengthening of the reputation of the Federal Armed Forces, enforcement of human rights, establishment of democracy in the country of deployment, protection of the population in the country of deployment; assessment of the armament and equipment of the Federal Armed Forces; assessment of leadership training in the Federal Armed Forces; assessment of ´soldiering´ as a profession; personal acquaintance with a Federal Armed Forces soldier; personal advice to a relative or friend when considering volunteering for the Federal Armed Forces; importance of co-determination in civilian enterprises; importance of co-determination for soldiers in peacetime; preferences for voluntary service by women in the Federal Armed Forces (women do not belong in the Federal Armed Forces, only in unarmed service, all uses should be open to women); opinion on the complete withdrawal of US troops from Germany; opinion on the complete withdrawal of the Federal Armed Forces from the region; agreement on various possibilities for a new German security policy (extension of NATO security guarantees to Eastern Europe, common European foreign and security policy, restructuring of the military, return to national German interests, strengthening of political cooperation); the importance for Germany of a permanent seat on the UN Security Council; attitudes towards citizens of various neighbouring countries (Belgians, Danes, French, Dutch, Austrians, Poles, Swiss, Czechs and Luxemburgers); the most positive attitudes and the most negative attitudes towards neighbours; a feeling of belonging as West Germans, East Germans, Germans, Europeans or world citizens. 6. Military cooperation in Europe: familiarity of various associations with soldiers from different nations (e.g. German-French Brigade, Eurocorps, German-American Corps, German-Dutch Corps); opinion on military cooperation with various countries (USA, France, Netherlands, England, Belgium, Denmark, Italy); opinion on the creation of a European army; opinion on the political unification of Europe; opinion on the introduction of a common European currency, the Euro; evaluation of the performance of the Federal Armed Forces with regard to reunification in comparison to other institutions (trade unions, churches, political parties, employers´ associations, sports associations and media); opinion on the future NATO deployment of Federal Armed Forces combat troops. Demography: Sex; age (year of birth); education; additional vocational training; occupation; occupational group; net household income; marital status; denomination; residential environment (degree of urbanisation); city size; federal state; household size; number of persons in household aged 16 and over; Left-Right Self-Placement. Additionally coded: Respondent ID; age (categorised); West/East; weight.

During the Second World War, the three Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Finland mobilized the largest share of their male population. For the Allies, the Soviet Union mobilized the largest share of men, as well as the largest total army of any country, but it was restricted in its ability to mobilize more due to the impact this would have on its economy. Other notable statistics come from the British Empire, where a larger share of men were drafted from Dominions than from the metropole, and there is also a discrepancy between the share of the black and white populations from South Africa.

However, it should be noted that there were many external factors from the war that influenced these figures. For example, gender ratios among the adult populations of many European countries was already skewed due to previous conflicts of the 20th century (namely WWI and the Russian Revolution), whereas the share of the male population eligible to fight in many Asian and African countries was lower than more demographically developed societies, as high child mortality rates meant that the average age of the population was much lower.

Over the course of the Second World War, approximately 44.5 percent of the Soviet population and 8.7 of Soviet territory was occupied by the Axis forces at some point. Despite being allied in the war's early stages, with both countries invading Poland in 1939 via the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Germany would launch Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the USSR, in 1941, which would become the largest military invasion in history. Movement of the Eastern Front The surprise invasion began on June 22, and Axis forces caught the Soviets off-guard, quickly pushing their way eastward along a frontline that stretched from the Baltic to Black seas. The length of the front-line allowed Axis forces to execute pincer movements around cities and strongholds, which cut off large numbers of Soviet soldiers from their supply lines, as well as preventing reinforcements; in this process millions of Soviet troops were taken as prisoner. Within three weeks, the Germans had taken much of present-day Poland, Belarus, and the Baltic states, before taking Moldova and Ukraine in September, and pushing into western Russia between September and December. The front lines had reached the outskirts of Moscow by November, before exhaustion and cold weather helped Soviet forces hold the line and stall the German offensive. The Red Army was then able to regroup and turning the Germans' own tactics against them, using two-pronged attacks to encircle large numbers of troops, although harsh weather made this stage of the conflict much slower.

The lines remained fairly static until mid-1942, when the Germans focused their offensive on the south, concentrating on the Caucasian oil fields and the Volga River. By November 1942, Axis forces had pushed into these regions, establishing what would ultimately be the largest amount of occupied Soviet territory during the war. Once again, winter halted the Axis advance, and allowed the Red Army to regroup. Learning from the previous year, the Axis command strengthened their forces near Moscow in anticipation of the Soviet counter-offensive, but were caught off-guard by a second counter-offensive in the south, most famously at Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad would come to epitomize the extreme loss, destruction, and brutality of war on the eastern front, with conflict continuing in the city months after the rest of the Axis forces had been pushed west. As 1943 progressed, the Red Army gained momentum by targeting inferiorly-trained and equipped non-German regiments. The spring then became something of a balancing act for the Axis powers, as the Soviets consistently attacked weak points, and German regiments were transferred to reinforce these areas. In the summer of 1943, the front line was static once more, however the momentum was with the Soviets, who were able to capitalize on victories such as Kursk and gradually force the Axis powers back. By 1944, the Red Army had re-captured much of Ukraine, and had re-taken the south by the summer. When the Western Allies arrived in France in June, the Soviets were already pushing through Ukraine and Belarus, towards Berlin. In August 1944, the last Axis forces were pushed out of Soviet territory, and Soviet forces continued their push towards the German capital, which fell in May 1945. Soviet death toll In addition to the near-five million Soviet troops who died during Operation Barbarossa, millions of civilians died through starvation, areal bombardment, forced labor, and systematic murder campaigns. Due to the nature and severity of Soviet losses, total figures are difficult to estimate; totals of 15-20 million civilians and 7-9 million military deaths are most common. Further estimates suggest that the disruption to fertility, in addition to the high death toll, meant that the USSR's population in 1946 was 40 million lower than it would have been had there been no war.

Over the course of the Second World War approximately 127.2 million people were mobilized. The world's population in 1940 was roughly 2.3 billion, meaning that between five and six percent of the world was drafted into the military in some capacity. Approximately one in every 25 people mobilized were women, who generally served in an administrative or medical role, although hundreds of thousands of women did see active combat. Largest armies In absolute numbers, the Soviet Union mobilized the largest number of people at just under 34.5 million, and this included roughly 35 percent of the USSR's male population. By the war's end, more Soviets were mobilized than all European Axis powers combined. However, in relative terms, it was Germany who mobilized the largest share of its male population, with approximately 42 percent of men serving. The USSR was forced to find a balance between reinforcing its frontlines and maintaining agricultural and military production to supply its army (in addition to those in annexed territory after 1941), whereas a large share of soldiers taken from the German workforce were replaced by workers drafted or forcibly taken from other countries (including concentration camp prisoners and PoWs). Studying the figures The figures given in these statistics are a very simplified and rounded overview - in reality, there were many nuances in the number of people who were effectively mobilized for each country, their roles, and their status as auxiliary, collaborative, or resistance forces. The British Empire is the only power where distinctions are made between the metropole and its colonies or territories, whereas breakdowns of those who fought in other parts of Asia or Africa remains unclear. Additionally, when comparing this data with total fatalities, it is important to account for the civilian death toll, i.e. those who were not mobilized.

Einstellungen ostdeutscher Jugendlicher. Themen: Verhältnis zwischen Zivilbevölkerung und Volkspolizei;militärischer Zweck der Volkspolizei; Verhältnis zwischenVolkspolizisten und russischen Truppen; Einstellungen zur Volkspolizei;innere Überzeugung der Mitglieder der Volkspolizei; Freiwilligkeit derMitgliedschaft in der Volkspolizei; Flucht von Volkspolizisten in denWesten; Ansehen russischer Truppen in der Zivilbevölkerung;Kontakthäufigkeit zwischen russischen Truppen und der deutschenZivilbevölkerung; persönliche Bekanntschaft mit russischen Soldaten;Hören westlicher Radiosender durch russische Soldaten; Veränderung derAnsichten russischer Soldaten über den Westen durch ihren Aufenthalt inDeutschland. Demographie: Alter; Beruf; Bildung; Geschlecht; Land; Ort. Attitudes of East German young people.Topics:relation between civilian population and People's Police;military purpose of the People's Police;relation between members of the People's Police and Russian troops;attitudes to the People's Police;internal conviction of members of the People's Police;voluntariness of membership in the People's Police;flight of members of the People's Police into the west;reputation of Russian troops in the civilian population;frequency of contact between Russian troops and the German civilian population;personal acquaintance with Russian soldiers;listening to western radio stations by Russian soldiers;change of views of Russian soldiers about the West from their stay in Germany.Demography:age;occupation;education;sex;state;city. Mündliche Befragung mit standardisiertem Fragebogen Oral survey with standardized questionnaire

As a share of gross domestic product (GDP), Ukraine spent more on its military than any other country in 2024, reaching 35 percent of the country's GDP. The high figure is due to the country being invaded by Russia in February 2022. Israel, that is fighting Hamas in the Gaza war, and Algeria followed behind.Leading military spending countriesIn gross terms, the countries with the highest military spending are the United States, China, and Russia. However, these are countries with large populations and GDPs, and smaller countries usually cannot compete alone, regardless of how much they invest. For this reason, they form alliances such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO countries aim to pool two percent of their GDP towards their own militaries and to aid each other in case of war. Regional differencesThe past decade has seen an increase in global military spending. This has not been distributed evenly. That period saw large positive changes in military spending from several Asian countries, including a large increase from China. While this does not reflect the number of active conflicts, it reflects growing tensions in global affairs.

For most of the Second World War, the Soviet Union had the largest number of active military personnel each year, peaking at over 12 million people in the war's final years. The Soviet Union's ability to draw from its larger population was decisive in its eventual victory over Germany in 1945, whose eastern forces were greatly diminished by 1944 after it had already suffered heavy losses fighting the Soviets and was then forced to fight on the western front.

Each of the Great Powers had varying conscription systems in place that allowed them to draft citizens into the military. In the U.S., over 50 million men aged 18-45 would register for the draft before the war's end, and over 10 million of these were inducted into the military (alongside volunteers and those already in service). Conscription in Japan grew more aggressive as the war progressed, and its armed forces doubled in size in the final two years of the war.