What would happen if
the largest country on Earth decided
it needs more territory and power?
Well, it might just go to war over it.
Russia already takes up one-eighth
of all the inhabited
land on the planet.
And now it has its eyes on one of its
European neighbors.
Historically, Ukraine
and Russia have been in conflicts before.
Most recently,
Russia annexed
the Ukrainian peninsula, Crimea.
And then, it backed
a separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine.
Now, Russia doesn't want
Ukraine cozying up to NATO.
It wants NATO out of Eastern Europe, period.
And even though Russia isn't a member of NATO
to make decisions on such things,
with one of the most powerful militaries
in the world,
Russia might feel like it can play
by its own rules.
OK, let's back up a little.
First, you might be wondering
what NATO is.
NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
And right now, it includes 30 members.
The U.S., Canada, Netherlands
and the UK are among them.
NATO's goal is to keep the peace
and make sure no member of this alliance
gets invaded by an international military force.
You know, like that time
Russia took Crimea from Ukraine.
Now, Ukraine is not yet a member of NATO.
But it has shown interest in joining it.
And that doesn't sit well
with Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Putin is already a little freaked out
that NATO is training Ukrainian troops
and some members are supplying its army
with weapons.
So he's decided to go about it
with the good ol' method of persuasion.
He's threatening to start a war.
With a defense budget of $42 billion,
Russia puts a lot of love
and money into its military.
Russia's army counts 3.5 million recruits.
And it has tanks, 13,000 of them.
No other country in the world
has this many.
Russia also has 27,000 armored vehicles
and ranks first in the world
with its 4,465 artillery guns.
Then, there is also Russia's nukes
to worry about.
All 6,257 of them.
These can be launched
from aircraft, subs or missiles.
But if Russia decided to attack,
chances are it wouldn't start on land.
The first strike would likely
come from the air.
This could level
electricity stations and bridges,
obliterate rail lines
and cripple the economy of any country attacked.
In addition to this,
Russia's naval fleet
is nearly unmatchable.
Their nuclear-powered submarines alone
parked along a coastline
could pose enough of a threat
to anyone thinking about taking them on.
Depending on who the targeted country is,
of course.
If Russia attacked Ukraine,
NATO would likely respond
with heavy economic sanctions.
But Russia has allies of its own.
It's a member of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO.
This is a group of six former
Soviet states in a NATO-like alliance.
It also has Cuba in its corner.
And if things should get really testy,
Cuba would be a key hub
for Russian troops
looking to do some damage on U.S. soil.
It's pretty scary when 100,000 Russian troops
are standing on your doorstep.
But this likely wouldn't be
a war to wipe out the country.
Chances are, Russia has something to gain from it.
It might be natural resources
or political leverage.
Whatever it is,
the plan wouldn't be to obliterate
every target in its way.
Only to do enough damage
to make their point.
In the case of Ukraine,
it could shut down the Ukrainian economy.
But they could do that
with minimal forces on the ground.
War is also not fought the same way
it was even a decade ago.
It can be much more covert.
Hack attack, anyone?
Now, if you worry about those Russian nukes,
I might have an idea
of how to rid the world of them.
How about nuking a volcano,
in the name of science?
Go on, see what happens.
Now, that's a story for another WHAT IF.