5 Countries with the Strongest Paramilitary Forces in the World

3. Russia

Paramilitary Strength by Numbers: 250,000

Military Expenditure Budget for 2024: $109,000,000,000

Weighted Average: 7.2

Russia has paramilitary forces comprising 0.2% of the total population and about 7% of the total available military manpower. For 2024, the country has allocated a whopping $109,000,000,000 to its defense budgets, with the military ranking among the top 5 global military powers. Russia’s primary paramilitary forces are the National Guard and the Border Service, and both of these contribute significantly to wartime tasks. Their primary activity, however, revolves around peacekeeping within the country with both of these organizations having and operating their private land, air, and maritime units.

Another private mercenary group, which has recently been registered as a private military company in Russia, is the PMC Wagner group. The Wagner group has operated in multiple countries including Ukraine, Syria, Mali, the Central African Republic, Sudan, and Libya. In June 2023, soldiers of the Wagner group organized a mutiny against the Russian government. Although this was abandoned later, Wagner’s status as a paramilitary group in Russia has been unclear since then.