Qwiss that's not actually fair prior to the outbreak of of the conflict nobody in the west thought Ukraine would be able to withstand the offensive so they didn't provide any meaningful contribution the Ukrainian army resisted the full force of the Russians at that time pretty much alone. This article is a good insight into the western thinking at the time. I pasted an extract below.
Putinās tiny planning circle also played a role, creating a hopelessly cocky plan that had not been subjected to a rigorous critique by intelligence professionals versed in Ukrainian realities. Russian troops entered Ukraine expecting a surgical regime change operation with little resistance, rather than the bitter battles that awaited them. Moscow did not bother with many actions that western military analysts had assumed would accompany the invasion, such as taking out Ukraineās power and communications networks. The Russian army assumed they would control most of the country in a matter of days, so decided to make the subsequent occupation easier by keeping the infrastructure intact. Instead, the working mobile networks and ready power supply proved crucial for the coordination of Ukraineās hastily assembled defence forces.
āHalf of it is we overestimated Russian military performance and underestimated the Ukrainian military,ā said Michael Kofman, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington. āBut the other half is the Russians didnāt execute the operation remotely how many anticipated it might go, or in a way that made sense.ā
https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/feb/20/a-war-foretold-cia-mi6-putin-ukraine-plans-russia
Yes the west then went into supporting Ukraine economically but it's still Ukrainian manpower doing the fighting and no real sirforce so given that are at significant numerical disadvantage it's a mix of great ingenuity and less capable then thought russian military.
Europe hasn't had a meaningful military force that could counter any enemy so yes any country that has a military would pose a threat to Europe but it doesn't say a lot to conclude if you have no army and another country has an army you are vulnerable. But it doesn't mean Russia has a capable military just that they have one and now have demonstrated the willingness to use it so yes that's clearly going to be a threat in pure numbers that Europe has to respond to.
But In terms of how they were assessed as a potential leading military force they are miles away from that and that's shown by the assessment and the reality people thought it would be over in weeks and 4 years on its still grinding on work little change and a country who has been directly bombed to destroy infrastructure can still resist.
Yes they receive arms but it's still the Ukraine military that has to fight and they are significantly less then Russian forces.
