Better trained, better equipped: What you should know about Russia and Ukraine's militaries

WASHINGTON – Russia had no problem getting past Ukraine’s military forces when it orchestrated a bloodless takeover of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted that not a single shot was fired during the assault.

Russian troops face a far more formidable adversary after Putin invaded Ukraine again. Ukraine’s military is better trained, better equipped and more battle-tested than it was eight years ago, experts said.

“They are not what they were in 2014,” said Jim Townsend, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense.

Though Russia is the superior military power and will almost certainly prevail, Ukraine’s defense forces could inflict significant damage on Russian troops, according to an analysis by the Atlantic Council, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington.

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