Category: War in Ukraine

The Largest Armies in EU Are 6 to 7 Times Smaller Than Russia’s: A Look at Europe’s Top Ten Armies

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has revealed that the rest of Europe, in many respects, may not be prepared for a large-scale war. Every month, Russia loses more tanks than most European armies have in total, not to mention the disparity in troop numbers.

Jan 21, 2025 11:47 Updated Jul 03, 2025 11:28

2 min read

Authors: Illia Kabachynskyi
Feature Writer

During a visit to Poland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that there are 600,000 Russian troops in Ukraine, while Ukraine's Armed Forces number 880,000 soldiers. European armies are significantly smaller, especially in comparison to the size of Russia’s full military contingent.

In 2024, Vladimir Putin signed a decree increasing the size of the Russian army to 1,500,000 soldiers, bringing the total armed forces to 2,389,130. This marks an increase of nearly 180,000 from the previous total of 1,329,000 active troops and 2,209,130 overall. Over the last three years, this is the third decree of its kind, reflecting Russia’s continuous military expansion. Each month, over 30,000 soldiers are conscripted into service.

In contrast, European armies face declining popularity of military service and recruitment challenges. Every European army is smaller than the Russian contingent in Ukraine alone, and their additional mobilization reserves fall far short of bridging this gap. The time required to deploy significant forces is another limiting factor.

What is the size of these armies?

Since 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, most European countries have downsized their militaries. Germany and Italy halved their forces, while France, Spain, and the United Kingdom nearly did the same. The only European country pursuing military growth is Poland. After 2014, when its forces numbered around 99,000, Poland began expanding its military, reaching 116,000 by 2020. By 2024, it became one of NATO’s largest armies with 216,000 troops. In 2024, Poland allocated 4.2% of its GDP to defense, and this is projected to rise to 4.7% in 2025, one of the highest rates in NATO.

European armies: Military personnel numbers for the EU, United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Russia. Source: NATO estimates

Along with the Baltic states, Poland supports raising the minimum defense spending target from the current 2% to 3% of GDP.

Top ten European armies as of July 2024

Ukraine — 880,000
Poland — 216,000
France — 204,000
Germany — 185,000
Italy — 171,000
United Kingdom — 138,000
Spain — 117,000
Greece — 110,000
Romania — 66,000
Netherlands — 41,000

Russian army in Ukraine — 600,000; total Russian army — 1,500,000.

The combined size of all other European NATO member states’ armies is smaller than the Russian contingent in Ukraine.

This imbalance underscores one of Ukraine’s proposals for NATO membership: the potential to utilize Ukraine's military strength and extensive combat experience to bolster Europe’s collective security.