The war between Russia and Ukraine officially began on February 24, 2022, and the conflict has undoubtedly made the global economic recovery worse at a time when the global economy is slowly recovering due to the covid-19 pandemic. Most countries in Europe and the United States led by the United States have constantly threatened Russia if it dares to invade Ukraine and will jointly sanction Russia, although Russia is the world's second largest military power, but compared with The union of Europe and the United States, there is still a certain gap, where does Russia come from to challenge the European and American powers?
Russia's gas exports are the blood of the European and American economies
First: On military strength, the world's second, but compared with Europe and the United States, the gap is obvious. The area actually controlled by Russia is 17,122,930 square kilometers (including Crimea). Among the active duty forces of the Russian Armed Forces, there are about 1.014 million active troops, about 2 million in the reserve, 555,000 paramilitary personnel, more than 1.3 million people who reach the age of service (18 years old) every year, and 46.53 million people (16-49 years old) who are suitable for service in the country. Russia has a total of about 13,000 tanks, 15,000 armored personnel carriers, about 1,029 fighters, 1,350 bombers and other models, and 96 frigates, the most important of which is the core of which is 36 nuclear submarines, 6,450 nuclear weapons.
Russian nuclear submarines are the most feared weapons in Europe and the United States
Russia's military equipment is not inferior to all european countries combined, but if the United States is added, its military strength advantage is greatly reduced. After all, the annual military budget of the United States is more than the sum of all countries in the world, and its weapons and equipment are decades ahead of other countries, although Russia has a very large number of nuclear weapons equipment that is not inferior to that of the United States, but after all, the possibility of nuclear war is relatively low. Conventional military strength is indeed inferior to that of Europe and the United States.
Two: On the ability of natural gas to export to the world's important economies, Russia has grasped the lifeblood of Europe. As the country with the largest natural gas reserves in the world, the reserves available for exploitation in Russia are as high as 4.757 billion cubic meters, which is roughly equivalent to 27.5% of the world's total natural gas reserves. Its Siberian oil and gas fields have been proven to be more than 200, and the total amount of oil and gas fields in only one of them exceeds all the reserves of the United States, and this rich mineral deposit has become its unique advantage, while all European countries have long relied on Russia's natural gas exports. Whether people survive a warm winter or whether industry can produce properly depends heavily on Russia's gas pipeline through Ukraine. Although Saudi Arabia, the United States and other countries also have huge production, but compared with Russia's unique pipeline transportation method, other countries use natural gas to transport LNG ships can be described as a drop in the bucket, almost irreplaceable in a short period of time. The impact of the gas outage is no less than the impact of direct war on the country.
Europe's economic valves are entirely in the hands of the Russians
War may not conquer a country, but if Russia stops sending gas to Europe, europe's economy will be plunged into a catastrophe. This may be where Russia dares to single-handedly challenge many countries in Europe and the United States.