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Ukraine Becomes World’s Largest Arms Importer as Russian Exports Collapse
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Ukraine ranked as the world’s largest arms importer in 2021–2025, while Russia’s weapons exports dropped nearly threefold over the same period.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
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According to the institute’s data, Ukraine became the biggest recipient of major arms transfers over the past five years, accounting for 9.7% of total global imports.
India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Pakistan followed Ukraine among the top arms importers. SIPRI noted that since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has received military equipment from at least 36 countries.
The United States remained the main supplier, providing 41% of all weapons delivered to Ukraine. Germany ranked second with a 14% share, while Poland placed third with 9.4%.
As reported by RBC-Ukraine, the volume of deliveries in 2025 fell slightly compared with the peak years of 2023–2024, which they attributed to reduced US assistance and increased secrecy around certain weapons transfers.
At the same time, 25 countries signed agreements with the United States to procure air-defense missiles and aerial bombs intended specifically for Ukraine’s Armed Forces, according to RBC-Ukraine.
On the global market, the leading arms exporters in 2021–2025 were the United States, France, Russia, Germany, and China, which together accounted for roughly 70% of total exports.
Russia, meanwhile, saw a sharp decline in its role as an arms supplier. Its share of global exports fell from 21% in 2016–2020 to 6.8% in 2021–2025.
According to RBC-Ukraine, citing SIPRI analysts, the drop was largely due to Russia redirecting weapons to support its own forces in the war against Ukraine, as well as the impact of wide-ranging international sanctions.
Most remaining Russian exports were sent to India, China, and Belarus, but the overall trend shows a significant loss of Moscow’s influence on the global arms market.
Earlier, Germany has surpassed China to rank as the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter over the past five years.
According to a report released by SIPRI on March 9, Germany accounted for 5.7% of global arms exports in 2021–2025, narrowly surpassing China, whose share stood at 5.6%. The increase pushed Germany into fourth place among the world’s largest exporters, with roughly 24% of its deliveries during the period going to Ukraine.
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