Is Putin a paper tiger? How Russia & Nato stack up nuke-by-nuke & tank-by-tank

Vlad has at his disposal one of the world’s most formidable military forces, based on the figures.

Russia matches the US for troops and has more than any other Nato member – with some 1.3million soldiers, and millions more in reserve.

But he has been branded a “paper tiger” by Donald Trump.

And if you click the arrow on the graphic below – you will see how the alliance united is more than a match for Vlad’s war machine.

Boots on the ground remain the backbone of any fighting force – but there is always the nuclear elephant in the room.

And what Putin does have over any global power is the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal.

Here is how nuke stockpiles have risen and fallen since the peak of the Cold War – with Vlad now at the top of the pile.

But with no one daring to use a nuclear weapon since the end of World War 2 – they are for now an ominous shadow.

And with the promise of mutually assured destruction should the nukes start flying, conventional warfare still swallows up

NATO combined has well over 3million troops – but the lion’s share are still provided by the United States.

You can see here how the US dwarfs every other NATO with its staggering spending.

The US’s enormous arsenal is an invaluable part of the alliance – providing the majority of the alliance’s hardware.

And click the arrows to see how this breaks down between tanks, planes and warships for Russia, Nato and the US.

This is one of the biggest frustrations for US President Donald Trump, who wants other NATO members to pull their weight.

Here you can move the slider to see how Europe has deepened its defence spending in the face of a war-hungry Putin.

Total European defence spending is estimated to have increased by nearly $175billion in the last ten years.

And the Russian invasion of Ukraine has only increased the urgency of the continent to rearm.

The total spend across the continent is now nearly $400billion.

Here is what some European leaders have said about boosting their defence spending in the face of the threat from Russia.

And one of the nations leading the charge is Poland – with them sharing a border with Ukraine and Vlad’s puppet state, Belarus.

With killer Russian drones already falling in the country’s east, they are on the frontline against Putin.

Poland has been described as the “model ally” to the US – upping its defence spending to nearly 4.2 per cent from 2.2 percent in 2014.

And they aren’t done yet, setting themselves up as the most formidable fighting force in Europe.

In terms of defence spending relative to GDP – they are closely followed by their Baltic neighboursEstonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

As you can see in our interactive graphic below – even combined, they are still dwarfed by Russia on Europe’s frontline.

Behind them in spending is the United Kingdom – with 2.2% spending, and a vow to raise it to 2.5% by 2027 and 5% by 2035.

Britain has been one of the biggest supporters of Ukraine against Russia, handing over advanced weapons and $10billion of military aid.

And this support from the UK – along with the other Nato nations and the US has allowed Ukraine to punch well above its weight.

Ukrainian troops – armed with Western weapons – have fought valiantly since Vlad’s invasion in February 2022.

And they have led to a staggering amount of Putin’s troops being killed or injured.

With more than 110,000 troops hurled into the meat grinder – alongside more than 11,000 tanks and hundreds of aircraft, Putin’s campaign has been bloody.

And the Russians remain stuck along a mostly deadlocked frontline, occupying just 19 per cent of Ukraine – including Crimea, which Vlad seized in 2014.

But despite this – Russia keeps fighting, and the deaths of tens of thousands of young men in the mud is not deterring them.

Putin has framed the Ukraine war as the new “Great Patriotic War” – the name Russians give to World War 2 and the struggle against the Nazis.

It is helped drive support from his people for his war – despite the staggering losses.

And it is this attitude that could also motivate them in any struggle against Nato.

Russia’s history is full of wars of high attrition – such as against Hitler and Napoleon – which have seen forces break upon Moscow‘s staggering willingness to accept bloodshed, its sheer size, and its brutal winters.

Click the bubbles below to see the staggering numbers of Russia’s war dead over the past 200 years.

So when Trump called Russia a ‘paper tiger’ – was he correct?

Ex-US General Ben Hodges told The Sun: “I would not say that Russia is a ‘paper tiger’ – but they have many shortcomings and vulnerabilities.”

He explained the Russia air force, navy and land forces have exposed themselves during the Ukraine war – failing in their objections to seize control of the land, air and sea.

And he says, while Russia’s “traditional strength is its vastness” – this is now being used against it.

Ukraine is showing how you can exploit holes in its thinly stretched defences to launch pinpoint strikes on key infrastructure like oil depots and train tracks, he explained.

General Hodges said: “Their mass is their advantage….and they have a lot of it.

“But mass can be defeated by precision.”

Keir Giles, an expert on the Russian military and senior fellow at Chatham House, warned not to dismiss Putin.

He said while the Kremlin has taken deep losses in Ukraine – much of their forces – such as the air force and nuclear units – have remained “relatively unscathed”.

Mr Giles told The Sun: “That means that Russia still has plenty of means of delivering damage at extremely long ranges – which it has been practising doing for the last 20 years.”

Europe remains unprepared for a large scale missile attack, he warned.

And he said one of Putin’s great strengths remains its hybrid warfare – using cyberattacks and sabotage, which continue to run rife.