EU-DIGEST

Vadimir Putin has said Russia has the world's best armed forces and issued a threat about his country's nuclear missile capabilities.

The claim by the Russian president comes amid a statement from Ukraine's armed forces that Russia's army had lost more than 34,000 troops since the start of his invasion on February 24.

The Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported that Putin had told a meeting of the State Council on Tuesday that there are "no more effective armed forces in the world today than in Russia."

Read more at: Putin Says Russia Has Best Army After Losing 34k Troops in Just 4 Months

Ukraine may be battling for its sovereignty, but could Russian President Vladimir Putin be fighting for his presidency if the invasion he declared goes badly for him?

Senator Lindsey Graham invoked the downfall of Julius Caesar in calling for the Russian leader's assassination. "Is there a Brutus in Russia?" he said in a tweet which sparked condemnation from both Republicans and Democrats.

Read more at: Read more at: Could Vladimir Putin Be Overthrown by His Own People?

Under President Xi Jinping, China has become more diplomatically assertive and shown an increased willingness to back up its claims over disputed territory with demonstrations of its military prowess. Neighbouring countries, and the United States have been watching closely.

The increasingly loud voices sounding alarm of a potential China-US conflict in the South China Sea mostly came from the fact that the US is now seeing China on equal footing because of the latter’s growing army,” said Yin Dongyu, a Beijing-based analyst on the Chinese military. “And that’s quite a good indication of China’s growing military strength already.”

Within its ranks, there are more than 915,000 active-duty troops in its ranks, dwarfing the US, which has about 486,000 active soldiers, according to the latest Pentagon China Military Power Report.

The army has also been stocking its arsenal with increasingly high-tech weapons.In 2019, the DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile, which experts say could hit any corner of the globe, was unveiled during the National Day military parade. But it was a DF-17 hypersonic missile that caught most people’s attention.

In 2019, the DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile, which experts say could hit any corner of the globe, was unveiled during the National Day military parade. But it was a DF-17 hypersonic missile that caught most people’s attention.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is now the largest navy in the world, according to the government’s defence white paper, and its submarines have the capability to launch nuclear-armed missiles. To support the navy, China also has so-called maritime militia, funded by the government and known as “little blue men”, which are active in the South China Sea, while this year Beijing authorised its coastguard to fire on foreign vessels.

Read more at: Just how strong is the Chinese military? | Military News | Al Jazeera