See also: There are good arguments that Russia is no longer a major power
Russia is arguably in a worse position due to the war in Ukraine because: Russia's national sovereign fund has shrunk, the potential market for their gas/oil has shrunk, their demographic/population crisis is more severe, their civilian economy has grown worse (High inflation, growing corporate bankruptcies. Trump called Russia's economy a "disaster". Russia's Innovation Index score has dropped since the war in Ukraine [27]. See: A somber outlook for the Russian economy, 2024 ), the Soviet era stockpile of weapons has shunk, Finland/Sweden joined NATO, and NATO's military budget has ramped up. Any "victory" that Russia achieves in the war in Ukraine will be a pyrrhic victory.
Back to Bipolarity: How China's Rise Transformed the Balance of Power Free (Russia and India are not great powers), International Security, MIT Press, Volume 49, Issue 2, 2024
What are the arguments that Russia is not a great power?: "Arguments against Russia being a great power focus on its limited economic and technological capabilities, coupled with a history of impulsive foreign policy decisions and internal struggles. While Russia possesses a significant military, it lacks the economic and technological strength of true great powers."
Still a great power? Russia’s status dilemmas post-Ukraine war, Journal of Contemporary European Studies. Volume 32, 2024 - Issue 1
Russia is no longer a world power, The Telegraph, May 2025
War in Ukraine helped demonstrate that Russia is no longer a great power:
"But once Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed his war machine, that narrative of Russian power swiftly unraveled. The Ukrainian army, supposedly outgunned and with little chance of resisting conventionally, fought back with brains and ferocity. And Ukrainian civilians, whom many experts thought to be divided over the question of the country’s relationship to Russia, rallied to defend their homeland. Meanwhile, Putin’s military floundered. Its weapons and doctrine proved to be lackluster at best, and its soldiers performed far worse than expected, thanks in part to corruption and poor training. Hundreds of thousands, maybe more than a million, Russian men of military age fled the country to avoid conscription. And just last week, the Wagner paramilitary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin briefly seized control of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and threatened to plunge the country into civil war, sending his mercenary fighters to within 120 miles of Moscow. This stunning revelation of Russian weakness calls into question not just Moscow’s status as a great power but also the very concept of a great power." - Foreign Affairs, 2023[28]
Video: George Friedman: Why Putin Has Lost the War in Ukraine, 2025
Various arguments that Russia is no longer a great power:
Russia Just Lost Its Great-Power Status, Project Syndicate, December 2024
Alexander De Croo: Russia is no longer a world power - and here's how Europe can fight back, video, 2025
Russia Is No Great Power Competitor, American Interest, 2019
Russia Is No Great Power If It Can’t Beat Ukraine on the Battlefield, 2022 (1945 website)
Ukraine Has Exposed Russia as a Not-So-Great Power, The Atlantic, 2022
Russia Resurrected. Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order By Kathryn E. Stoner. Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2021. "She argues that Russia is not a great power, in a traditional understanding of the term, but rather an effective disruptor/challenger to the contemporary international system." - How powerful is Russia?
"Russia is no longer considered a great power because of various factors, including its economic vulnerabilities, outdated military strategies, and a lack of strategic thinking. While Russia retains a powerful military, particularly in terms of nuclear weapons and traditional warfare, its overall capabilities have been exposed as limited in the war in Ukraine." - Why Russia is not a great power, Google AI/search
Decline of Russia - Google site
Economic projections out to 2034: Focus-Economics.com: "The Russian economy faces an uncertain future, influenced by deteriorating population dynamics, sanctions, the Ukraine war, and global economic conditions. Modest growth is expected in the near term, but risks abound; tighter sanctions or escalating conflict could lead to renewed economic contraction."[29]
Russia's non-operational aircraft carrier (which is Russia's only aircraft carrier), the Admiral Kuznetsov, is the laughing stock of other navies. [30][31]
Russia's demographic crisis:
Russia's demographic crisis - video playlist, Video playlist, 2025
Worldwide interest in the United States, China and Russia: A comparison
In 2025, U.S. News & World Report ranks Russia 37th in cultural influence among nations.[32]
Armenia Is Breaking Up With Russia – And Putin Can’t Stop It, 2025 (Russia's counterweight to NATO, Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), unravels further)
Russia's waning influence in the Middle East. December 2024 was one of the WORST months for Russian influence in the world
Fall of Putin’s Global Empire: Russia’s Waning Influence, Kyiv Post, December 2024. (Collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and loss of Russian military bases and other problems for Russia)
Russia's counterweight to NATO is falling apart, December 2024.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization: A Lifeless, Shambling ‘Alliance’, 2024, Georgetown University
Soviets weakened by Soviet-Afghanistan War and oil prices falling totally collapsed. Mr. Vladimir Putin, will war in Ukraine and lower and lower oil prices cause BIG TROUBLE for Russia?
Russia's alternative to NATO, The Collective Security Treaty Organization, continues to decline
Armenia To Quit Russia-led CSTO? Pashinyan Drops Bombshell Amid Putin-Trump Clash, Times of India, July 2025:Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said it's now "more likely" that Armenia will officially quit the Russia-led CSTO alliance, accusing it of failing to support Yerevan during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Armenia Just HUMILIATED Putin… Likely Ditching ‘Russian NATO’ to Join EU, July 2025
US (and other countries] and increasing sanctions on Russia[edit]
Trump teases ‘major statement’ on Russia after latest Ukraine attack: ‘You’ll be seeing things happen’, NY Post, July 11, 2025
'You'll be seeing things happen': President Trump teases 'major statement' on Russia, USA Today, July 11, 2025
Countries with the most cultural influence. Russia ranked #37 in 2025[edit]
Countries with the most cultural influence, US News and World Report, 2025 (Italy, France, USA, Spain, Japan, UK, South Korea, Switzerland, Germany and the UAE are the top 10 countries respectively. Russia is ranked #37 in cultural influence.)
In 2025, U.S. News & World Report ranks France 2nd in cultural influence among nations.[33]
In 2025, U.S. News & World Report ranks Russia 37th in cultural influence among nations.[34]
Worldwide Google searches for the terms France and Russia over the last 5 years:
Judging by the far more Google searches on France than Russia, many people are more interested in great French food, French fashion and romantic Paris than they care about imperialist Russia and Russian, nuclear saber-rattling. C'est la vie.
Russia's military weaknesses[edit]
Russian military - Google site
See: Russia is a junior partner to China. Why Russia may become more and more of a vassal state to China