The Startling Statistic That Shows Why Russia Is Struggling in Ukraine War

Comparing international military aid for Kyiv since the start of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine with Russia's annual defense budget shows how Moscow is in a war not just with its neighbour, but also with its NATO allies, the Russian news agency Tass claimed.

The piece, published on Wednesday by the state news outlet, quotes Putin saying "the military potential and capabilities of practically all the main NATO countries are being actively used against Russia."

Meanwhile, Russia's defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said that Moscow is fighting not so much with the Ukrainian military as with the "collective West," Tass reported in the article, which stated that the annual Russian military budget is $55.5 billion. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimate of Russia's 2021 military budget published in April 2022 is $65.9 billion.

Drawing on calculations based on official statements by donors, as well as media data, Tass portrayed how Russia was at a considerable financial disadvantage on the battlefield.

It estimated that foreign countries and international organizations had given Kyiv assistance worth more than $150.8 billion, including military, humanitarian and financial support.

"Thus, the total amount of Western assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the special military operation has exceeded its budget for 2022 by 2.7 times," it said, using the official Moscow description for the war. Almost a third of this, $48.5 billion, was in military assistance, it said.

Tass noted how the biggest donor was the U.S., which has so far allocated about $24.2 billion in military aid "both in cash and in the form of various weapons."

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) said on December 16 that between January 24, 2022, and November 20, 2022, the U.S. had pledged $22.9 billion in military assistance. On December 21, President Joe Biden announced a further $1.85 billion in aid, including, for the first time, advanced Patriot air defense missile systems.

Tass noted that Ukraine was benefiting from HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), self-propelled howitzers and RIM-7 Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles. The U.S. also provided $23.7 billion in financial and humanitarian assistance, Tass said.

The United Kingdom was the second-biggest donor, according to Tass, which said among its $3.6 billion in military assistance were Starstreak man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems and upgraded Brimstone 2 high-precision missiles.

According to a document published on December 12 by the British government's House of Commons Library, the U.K. has committed £2.3 billion ($2.8 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine and "has made a pledge to match that assistance in 2023."

Tass reported that in third place comes the European Union, which has given $3.28 billion in military aid and pledged $39.96 billion in other types of assistance.

Statista noted in December that EU institutions had given Ukraine $3.1 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in military aid between January 24 and November 20.

Meanwhile, Tass said that "despite Kyiv's numerous complaints about the refusal to supply it with weapons," Germany had approved $2.3 billion in military exports.

It added that Poland had supplied $2 billion worth of military aid to Kyiv and the Czech Republic, $2.1 billion. Statista noted that Berlin had given Kyiv 2.3 billion euros in such assistance, while the Czech Republic's contribution was 480 million euros.

Amid reports that Russia is running low on weapons and ammunition, Moscow and Kremlin-backed state media have repeatedly portrayed the war in Ukraine as a proxy fight between NATO and Russia.

One of Putin's closest allies, the Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told a Russian media outlet on Tuesday that the war is "a military confrontation between Russia and NATO, and above all the United States and Britain."

William Astore, a retired lieutenant colonel and ex-professor of history at the U.S. Air Force Academy, said without the Western military aid, including artillery, anti-tank and anti-air missiles, refurbished tanks, armored personnel carriers and ammunition, "there is no way Ukraine could have fought the Russian Army largely to a standstill."

"Western military aid has created a stalemate in Ukraine," he told Newsweek. "Whether it will ultimately grant Ukraine a decisive edge depends on the willingness of the U.S. and NATO to continue supplying massive amounts of arms and ammo, together with the morale of Ukrainian forces and the willingness of Ukraine as a country to endure the brutal costs of war."