Russia's Military After Ukraine: Potential Pathways for the Postwar Reconstitution of the Russian Armed Forces

The authors identify four pathways that Russia might take in reconstituting its armed forces after the end of the Russia-Ukraine war. They examine how Russian decisionmaking on reconstitution will be shaped by (1) historical Russian defense reforms, (2) the performance of the Russian armed forces in the Ukraine conflict, and (3) political, economic, demographic, technical, and foreign relations considerations.