Outgunned Ukraine military can still inflict pain on Russian forces

Ukraine’s ramshackle military offered no resistance to the Crimean annexation in February 2014. Since then the poorly equipped but well-motivated Ukrainian Army has taken thousands of casualties while fighting separatist forces in the eastern Donbas region. In the meantime, the country has embarked on an often haphazard reform programme of its military which has made it – while still vulnerable in many vital respects – a rather more formidable force.

Since 2014-15, Ukraine has tripled its defence budget and attempted to modernise its forces – not only to defend themselves against