How Much Military Does Ukraine Have Left? Fighter Jets, Soldiers, and Artillery in 2026

Ukraine entered February 2022 with the largest army in Europe outside of Russia — a force that had been substantially rebuilt and retrained by NATO partners over the eight years since the Donbas war began in 2014. More than four years of full-scale conflict later, that military has been tested, expanded through waves of mass mobilization, depleted in grinding attritional battles, and replenished through NATO donations in a cycle that outside observers struggle to track clearly. Here is the most accurate picture available.

## How Big Is the Ukrainian Army in 2026?

Ukraine's military has undergone a fundamental transformation since February 2022. The pre-war standing force numbered approximately 200,000 active-duty personnel. Successive mobilization waves have expanded the total number of Ukrainians in uniform — including the National Guard, Territorial Defense Forces, and specialized units — to somewhere between 700,000 and one million, depending on the counting methodology.

“Ukraine's military has undergone a fundamental transformation since February 2022.”

The quality of that expanded force varies significantly. The professional units that existed before 2022 have been supplemented by mobilized personnel who received widely varying levels of training. A man mobilized in 2023 or 2024 might have received eight to twelve weeks of basic instruction before deployment; some early-war volunteers were sent forward with less. Ukraine has worked to improve training pipelines by sending soldiers to NATO member states — the UK, Germany, France, Poland — for extended programs. The British-led Operation Interflex has trained over 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers since 2022.

By pure active-duty headcount, Ukraine would rank somewhere in the global top ten during the war period — though such rankings are misleading when applied to a force actively engaged in one of the most intense land wars since 1945.

## How Many Fighter Jets Does Ukraine Have Left?

This is one of the most tightly guarded figures in the war. Before February 2022, Ukraine operated approximately 98 to 110 combat aircraft — mostly Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters and Su-27s, along with Su-24 bombers and Su-25 ground attack planes. Those numbers declined significantly in the first year of fighting, both through combat losses and through attrition from the difficulty of maintaining aging Soviet-era aircraft.

Beginning in 2024, Ukraine started receiving F-16 Fighting Falcons from Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway — the first modern Western aircraft Ukraine has operated. By early 2026, estimates based on confirmed deliveries and acknowledged losses suggest Ukraine has somewhere between 60 and 85 operational combat aircraft, a mix of legacy Soviet types and F-16s. Ukraine has not released specific numbers.

The F-16s have made a real difference in specific roles — particularly in intercepting Russian drones and cruise missiles using AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, which have a substantially greater range than the Soviet-era weapons Ukraine previously used for air defense. Their impact on the broader air campaign has been limited by the small numbers available and by the Russian S-300/S-400 air defense networks that constrain how close Ukrainian aircraft can operate to the front line without significant risk.

## Who Has the Biggest Army in the World?

By active-duty personnel, the rankings in 2026 are approximately:

1. **China (PLA):** ~2 million active 2. **India:** ~1.45 million active 3. **United States:** ~1.3 million active 4. **North Korea:** ~1.28 million active 5. **Russia:** ~1.15 to 1.3 million active

These numbers are imprecise — militaries guard exact figures, and "active duty" is defined differently across countries. By overall military capability — nuclear arsenal, air power, naval reach, logistics, and technology — the United States holds a significant advantage over all other nations. Russia ranks second in nuclear warheads (approximately 6,000, versus the US's roughly 5,500), though both countries hold far more than could ever be used without triggering mutual annihilation.

## How Many Soldiers Does Russia Have Left?

Russia entered the 2022 invasion with approximately 900,000 active-duty personnel. Mobilization, continuous recruitment — including controversial programs recruiting prisoners and students — and the deployment of North Korean troops have expanded the total deployed force in and around Ukraine. Current estimates put Russia's deployed personnel at roughly 600,000, with total military manpower at 1.3 to 1.5 million.

Russia has sustained that force despite enormous losses by drastically lowering recruitment standards, raising signing bonuses (which reached 2 to 3 million rubles — around $25,000 to $35,000 — in some regions by late 2024), and drawing on North Korean soldiers, estimated at 10,000 to 15,000, to supplement depleted units in Kursk Oblast and along the Donetsk front.

## How Much Artillery Does Russia Have Left?

Russia entered the war with approximately 6,000 to 7,000 pieces of tube artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, backed by Soviet-era stockpiles stored at depots across its vast territory. Despite significant losses — Western think tanks estimate Russia has lost several hundred artillery systems to Ukrainian counter-battery fire, drone strikes, and battlefield capture — Russia has maintained artillery superiority throughout the war.

Domestic production has increased substantially: Russia reorganized its defense industrial base in 2022 and 2023, running artillery factories at three-shift operations. By 2025, Russia was producing more artillery ammunition than all NATO members combined, according to assessments from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and similar organizations.

As of early 2026, Russia holds an estimated three-to-five-to-one advantage over Ukraine in ammunition expenditure rates, and roughly two-to-three-to-one in available tube artillery. This persistent gap has been a defining feature of the war's attritional phase, particularly in eastern Ukraine.

## How Many Tanks Did Ukraine Have Before the War?

Ukraine had approximately 900 to 1,000 operational tanks in early 2022, along with several thousand more in varying states of storage and disrepair — a legacy of the massive Soviet-era military Ukraine inherited at independence in 1991. The initial weeks of the invasion saw significant tank losses on both sides. Ukrainian forces improved anti-armor effectiveness dramatically using shoulder-fired Javelin and NLAW missiles supplied by the US and UK respectively.

Ukraine subsequently received main battle tanks from multiple NATO members: Leopard 2 variants from Germany, Poland, and other European donors; Challenger 2s from the United Kingdom; and M1 Abrams from the United States. Total deliveries of Western tanks through 2025 exceeded 400. Ukraine's operational tank fleet in early 2026 is estimated at several hundred, maintained through battlefield recovery, depot repair, and ongoing NATO donations.

## How Many People Died in the Ukraine-Russia War in 2024?

2024 was one of the bloodiest years of the conflict. Russia's capture of Avdiivka in February 2024 — after months of brutal urban fighting — and the subsequent advance along the Donetsk line produced heavy casualties on both sides. Independent analysts at Oryx (which tracks confirmed equipment losses from visual evidence) and similar organizations estimate Russia suffered roughly 45,000 to 65,000 personnel killed in 2024, with a comparable number seriously wounded. Ukrainian military deaths are estimated at 30,000 to 50,000 for the year.

The civilian toll continued. Ukraine's civilian casualty rate declined from the 2022 peak but remained elevated due to persistent missile and drone strikes on cities across the country, particularly Kharkiv (60 miles from the Russian border), Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. The United Nations tracked over 12,000 confirmed civilian deaths since February 2022 as of early 2026, while noting the true figure is likely significantly higher.

## How Does Ukraine's Army Compare Globally?

**United States:** ~1.3 million active duty, with the world's largest defense budget ($886 billion in FY2024), the most advanced air force, and global power projection capabilities. The US has been Ukraine's largest single donor, providing over $175 billion in assistance through 2025.

**China:** ~2 million active duty. China has provided Russia with dual-use goods and diplomatic support since the invasion but has not (publicly) supplied lethal military equipment. China's military is the largest by headcount but has no modern combat experience.

**Canada:** ~68,000 regular force personnel. Canada has contributed training, equipment, and financial assistance to Ukraine, including CAD 2.4+ billion in total aid and contributions to NATO training programs.

**Israel:** ~169,500 regular troops plus 465,000 reservists who can mobilize rapidly. Israel has declined to provide Ukraine with its advanced weapons systems, citing concerns about Russian reaction in Syria (and later, after October 2023, its own operations in Gaza).

Ukraine itself, despite the war's attrition, maintains a military that is now substantially larger and more experienced than it was in 2022 — battle-hardened but also deeply strained. The paradox of the war is that Ukraine has become one of the most combat-experienced armies in the world at a significant human cost.

## What Is Ukraine's Rank Among World Armies?

Global FirePower, one of the more widely cited military ranking sites, placed Ukraine in the top 20 militaries worldwide before the war. The methodology is contested — it weights factors like manpower, equipment numbers, and economic capacity — but the general picture is that Ukraine, despite its smaller size and economy relative to Russia, fields a military that is taken seriously by NATO's most capable members.

Four years of war have produced a Ukrainian military with unmatched contemporary experience in large-scale drone warfare, long-range precision strike, counter-battery operations, and combined-arms urban defense. Several NATO member state militaries have quietly sent officers to study Ukrainian tactical innovations — a reversal of the direction of military education that would have seemed implausible in 2021.

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## FAQ

**Q: How many fighter jets does Ukraine have in 2026?** A: Approximately 60 to 85 operational combat aircraft, based on delivery estimates and confirmed losses. This includes a mix of Soviet-era MiG-29s, Su-27s, Su-24s, and Su-25s, plus F-16 Fighting Falcons received from Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway beginning in 2024. Ukraine does not release specific numbers.

**Q: How big is the Ukrainian army in 2026?** A: Between 700,000 and one million personnel in uniform when you include the National Guard, Territorial Defense Forces, and mobilized reserves — up from roughly 200,000 active duty before the February 2022 invasion. The force has been expanded through multiple mobilization waves and sustained by NATO training programs.

**Q: How many people died in the Ukraine-Russia war in 2024?** A: Estimates suggest Russia suffered 45,000 to 65,000 military deaths in 2024, with Ukrainian military deaths estimated at 30,000 to 50,000. Both sides treat precise figures as sensitive information. Over 12,000 confirmed civilian deaths have been documented by the UN since February 2022, with the true figure likely higher.

**Q: How many tanks did Ukraine have before the war?** A: Approximately 900 to 1,000 operational tanks, plus several thousand in storage from Soviet-era stockpiles. Ukraine has since received over 400 Western main battle tanks from NATO members, including Leopard 2s, Challenger 2s, and M1 Abrams.

**Q: Who has the biggest army in the world?** A: China has the largest active-duty military by personnel, with approximately 2 million troops. The United States holds the largest defense budget and is generally considered the most capable overall military force. Russia ranks high by several measures, including the world's second-largest nuclear arsenal.