[loudmax]

"Second most powerful military in the world"? What world is that? Russia isn't even the second most powerful military in Europe or in Asia. At this point, Russia is on the verge of being the second most powerful ex-Soviet state.

[bgorman]

Russia has the most nuclear weapons of any country, the largest airborne assault force in the world, the best missile defense system in the world, the second most nuclear submarines (and second best), the third most fighter aircraft, the most tanks.

Russia has a great domestic arms industry/natural resources and can resupply itself in isolation.

People need to realize that Russia's defense is primarily setup to defend its borders.

Any country other than the US would not fare well in a nuclear war with Russia, including China.

China hasn't been at war since the 70s. No one knows how well they would do in a conflict.

You simply cannot ignore nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are a great equalizer, that is why North Korea cannot be invaded from South Korea, despite South Korea having a much better "conventional" military.