This is a short summary of an original 300-page report in Swedish entitled "Rysk militär förmåga i ett tioårsaperspektiv - ambitioner och utmaningar 2008" commissioned by the Swedish Ministry of Defence. That report is the fifth in a series, with four previous assessments in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2005.. A preliminary versin of the Swedish report was examined by Dr. Stefan Forss of the Finnish Defence University, Head of Department Kristian Åtland and Senior Researcher Rolf-Inge Vogt Andresen of the Norwegian Defence Research Institute (FFI) at an FOI seminar on 25 November 2008 chaired by FOI Area Manager Eva Mittermaier. The authors convey warm thanks to the examiners for their painstaking work and constructive criticism. We also want to thank the participants in an FOI symposium in November 2008 under the title "Effects of the war in Georgia and the financial crisis on Russian domestic, foreign and security policy". A number of views pertiment to the report were expressed at that symposium, and some of these have been incorporated into the report. The editor of the report was Fredrik Westerlund.