The real danger of any limitation of Ukrainian army

From UNIAN:

"This won't be the main problem: expert identifies key threat of limiting the size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces 

Nikita Shenderovsky, 01.12.25 

Ukraine won't be able to maintain an army of 800,000 after the war, according to Ivan Stupak 

Any restrictions on the Ukrainian Armed Forces during peace talks will have consequences for Ukraine, regardless of their numbers. Ivan Stupak, a former Security Service of Ukraine officer and military expert, expressed this opinion on Channel 24. 

"We must understand that what's being implied is that special groups will be created to control the numbers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This isn't just about personnel; there will also be restrictions on aircraft and missiles. And there's a 95% chance that representatives of the Russian Federation will be present in these groups... This is a completely unacceptable option for Ukraine," Stupak said. 

He also responded to the statement by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas that if the Ukrainian Armed Forces are limited, Russia should also reduce its own army. According to the expert, Russia is unlikely to reduce its current 1.5 million troops.

"This is a huge army. For comparison, Poland has 200,000. Ukraine, before a full-scale invasion, has 250,000. The German army, with a population of 80 million, has 180,000. Numbers aren't an issue, even for us. Even if there's a limit of 800,000, it won't be a big problem. The problem is what we can sustain, what numbers. 800,000 is a lot; we simply can't handle such an army on our own," the analyst stated. 

He explained that after the end of hostilities, the size of the Ukrainian army will be reduced to what funding allows. At the same time, according to the expert, Ukraine can cooperate with the EU in this regard. Stupak added:  

"If the Europeans want to see us as a country that defends the Alliance's eastern borders and they're willing to pay for it, then no problem. We can maintain a million-strong army to defend the Europeans, but they'll pay for it. In my opinion, that would be a fantastic agreement. The downside to all these restrictions is in the details."" 

(Emphasis mine - M. M.)