But..... conscript a half-million more moozhiks and arm them with old 1980's T-62's and even older T-55's. Then arm the Ukrainians with upgraded, modern Abrams and Leopards. And you'll get that same 15:1 kill ratio. (Latest is that Germany will now actually give Leopards to the Ukrainians btw.)
Maybe even higher if the moozhkonskriptniks are untrained and the wiring and optics are stripped from those antique tanks!
Yeah but NATO doesn't seem keen on giving Ukraine anything but some castoffs. There is enough tanks in storage in the US to equip about 10 cold war divisions with M1A2s about 300K dudes if you include mechanics, clerks, potato peelers etc. No motion on it.
An army of 14 million armed with newly constructed T55s with bigger barrels [which they can do] vs about a million dudes with not even a 10th with western gear and the rest with WP cast offs or well, nothing, because ex WP could ship all their old kit and it won't be anywhere near enough.
Numbers do matter, Ask the Americans in North Korea who were doing really well until they found a chink in North Korean Armour [Mad Magazine and their spiff on MASH, I still remember that bit, I likes me a good word play]
Sure if NATO goes full braaapt economically and equip Ukraine, or at the least shit out their old M1A2s in storage it would even things about a bit. But even indestructible tanks like the Tiger can be taken out. One trick the Germans did in 1941 vs the T34 is to hit is with an auto fire 20mm gun. Would never penetrate the armour, but it creates a racket that fucks up the crew.
But again, trying to bring in WWII economic and personal mobilization, the regime wouldn't survive that.
www.understandingwar.org
