No. of Recommendations: 4
Oh, sure. And they do have a navy, of course. But they don't have much of a blue water navy at all. Their fleet is almost entirely small ships, really suited for waterbodies like the Black Sea and smaller. Subs are important counter-naval assets, but they're not going to provide a huge amount of direct support for a European invasion.
And the quality is questionable. They still haven't been able to get their new carrier to work. And the Ukranians sunk their flagship (and several others) in the Black Sea. Their navy is having...issues...
But a good summary of the strategic situation on land.
Also, the longer Russia is mired in Ukraine, the better for everyone else (not to be cold about what is happening to Ukrainians). I've seen estimates of ~500K casualties for Russia. Numbers are a bit difficult to come by since Russia doesn't publicize them, but that's a common estimate (as of the end of 2024). Plus materiel losses that have forced them to tap their storage yards for ancient hardware. Per satellite photos, those mothball yards are emptying quickly. Russia will not quickly recover when this is over, and certainly not while it's ongoing. I'm also reading that their economy is getting bad.
