Countries in Eastern Europe With the Biggest Paramilitary Forces, Ranked

President Donald Trump met with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky one-on-one at the Vatican shortly before Pope Francis’s funeral began. After Trump met with Zelensky, the US President later posted on social media, “It makes me think that maybe he [Putin] doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”

As the war in Ukraine continues to take a devastating toll, the role of non-traditional forces on both sides has become critical outside of regular military operations. Paramilitaries have a long history of being used during conflicts. These military forces operate outside the traditional army’s usual chain of command. In the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, both sides have relied on paramilitary forces to fight in addition to traditional military forces. Paramilitary forces don’t appear to operate under the direct control of either country.  Here, 24/7 Wall St. wanted to take a close look at the largest paramilitary forces in Eastern Europe. (Also see the countries with the largest military forces in Europe.)

24/7 Wall St. identified the Eastern European countries with the most paramilitary personnel by reviewing the 2024 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. We ranked the countries on the total number of paramilitary personnel. Further information has been added on military personnel, active personnel, reserves, total population, fit-for-service, and overall military strength score. We excluded the countries without any paramilitary forces.

(This article was updated on April 27, 2025, to reflect recent political news, such as social media remarks from President Trump.)

Why Are We Covering This Right Now?

Understanding the military dynamics of Eastern Europe is essential due to the region’s critical geopolitical importance, not to mention the ongoing conflict. Eastern Europe has historically been a focal point of tension, and military power plays an important role in maintaining both political and economic stability. The stability of Eastern Europe remains vital to global security.

Here is a look at the largest paramilitary forces in Eastern Europe:

8. Moldova

• Paramilitary forces: 2,000
• Active personnel: 8,500
• Reserves: 67,000
• Total military personnel: 77,500
• Total population: 3,250,532
• Fit-for-service: 1,618,765
• Aircraft: 3
• Military Vehicles: 450
• Military strength score and world rank: 4.2311 – #144 out of 145

7. Montenegro

• Paramilitary forces: 5,500
• Active personnel: 2,350
• Reserves: 0
• Total military personnel: 7,850
• Total population: 602,445
• Fit-for-service: 85,547
• Aircraft: 11
• Military Vehicles: 662
• Military strength score and world rank: 2.9109 – #129 out of 145

6. Hungary

• Paramilitary forces: 15,000
• Active personnel: 41,600
• Reserves: 20,000
• Total military personnel: 76,600
• Total population: 9,670,009
• Fit-for-service: 3,722,953
• Aircraft: 62
• Military vehicles: 7,797
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.8478 – #54 out of 145

5. Romania

• Paramilitary forces: 15,000
• Active personnel: 81,300
• Reserves: 55,000
• Total military personnel: 151,300
• Total population: 18,326,327
• Fit-for-service: 7,807,015
• Aircraft: 131
• Military vehicles: 9,990
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.7712 – #47 out of 145

4. Poland

• Paramilitary forces: 50,000
• Active personnel: 202,100
• Reserves: 350,000
• Total military personnel: 602,100
• Total population: 37,991,766
• Fit-for-service: 15,272,690
• Aircraft: 468
• Military vehicles: 13,956
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145

3. Belarus

• Paramilitary forces: 55,000
• Active personnel: 63,000
• Reserves: 145,000
• Total military personnel: 263,000
• Total population: 9,383,853
• Fit-for-service: 3,678,470
• Aircraft: 183
• Military vehicles: 6,700
• Military strength score and world rank: 1.0901 – #64 out of 145

2. Ukraine

• Paramilitary forces: 100,000
• Active personnel: 900,000
• Reserves: 1,200,000
• Total military personnel: 2,200,000
• Total population: 43,306,477
• Fit-for-service: 15,460,412
• Aircraft: 321
• Military vehicles: 22,110
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.2598 – #18 out of 145

1. Russia

• Paramilitary forces: 250,000
• Active personnel: 1,320,000
• Reserves: 2,000,000
• Total military personnel: 3,570,000
• Total population: 141,698,923
• Fit-for-service: 46,477,247
• Aircraft: 4,255
• Military vehicles: 161,382
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.0702 – #2 out of 145

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