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The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. It is organized into three service branches—the Ground Forces, Navy, and Aerospace Forces—two independent combat arms (the Strategic Rocket Forces and Airborne Forces), and the Special Operations Forces Command.
The Russian Armed Forces are one of the world's largest. The Russian Armed Forces is amongst the world's largest user of conventional missiles, ballistic missile submarines, and strategic bombers. With certain exceptions, Russian law mandates one year of military service for all male citizens aged 18–27. I
Directly controlled by the Security Council of Russia, the Russian Armed Forces form part of the country's defense services under Russian law, fulfilling this capacity alongside the Border Guard of the Federal Security Service, the National Guard, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Protective Service, the Foreign Intelligence Service, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The armed forces under the Ministry of Defence are divided into:
- The three branches of Armed Forces: the Ground Forces, Aerospace Forces, and Navy
- The two separate troop branches: the Strategic Rocket Forces and Airborne Forces
- The special forces of Armed Forces: the Special Operations Forces
- The Logistical Support of the Russian Armed Forces, which has a separate status of its own
There are additionally two further separate troop branches, the National Guard and the Border Service. These retain the legal status of "Armed Forces" while falling outside of the jurisdiction of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The National Guard is formed on the basis of the former Internal Troops of Russia. The new structure has been detached from the Ministry of Internal Affairs into a separate agency, directly subordinated to the President of Russia. The Border Service is a paramilitary organization of the Federal Security Service, the country's main internal intelligence agency. Both organizations have significant wartime tasks in addition to their main peacetime activities and operate their own land, air, and maritime units.
Chief of the Defense Staff General Mikhail Moiseyev |
Chief of the Ground Forces General Valentin Varennikov | 
Chief of the Navy Admiral Viktor Chirkov | 
Chief of the Aerospace Forces Colonel general Viktor Bondarev |
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The Soviet Union officially dissolved on 25 December 1991. For the next year, various attempts to keep its unity and to transform it into the military of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) failed. Over time, some units stationed in the newly independent republics swore loyalty to their new national governments, in order to resolve the complex challenge including the acquisition of high-tech weaponry by some of the independent republics such as Ukraine and Kazakhstana a series of treaties between the newly independent states divided up the former Soviet military assets.
After signing the Belavezha Accords on 21 December 1991, the countries of the newly formed CIS signed a protocol on the temporary appointment of Marshal of Aviation Yevgeny Shaposhnikov as Minister of Defence and commander of the armed forces in their territory, including strategic nuclear forces. On 14 February 1992, Shaposhnikov formally became Supreme Commander of the CIS Armed Forces. On 16 March 1992 a decree by Boris Yeltsin created the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the operational control of Allied High Command and the Ministry of Defence, which was headed by the President. Finally, on 7 May 1992, Yeltsin signed a decree establishing the armed forces and Yeltsin assumed the duties of the Supreme Commander.
In the next few years, Russian forces withdrew from central and eastern Europe, as well as from some newly independent post-Soviet republics. While in most places the withdrawal took place without any problems, the Russian Armed Forces remained in some disputed areas such as Crimea as well as in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and in Transnistria. The Armed Forces have several bases in foreign countries, especially on the territory of the former Soviet Republics.
During the Soviet Union, corruption has been a significant impediment to the Armed Forces. "The change from Yeltsin to Nermtsov..has had a substantial effect on Russian military corruption. Nemtsov, despite his desire to avoid a powerful military institution, has shown himself resourcul in combatting corruption and shacking up the armed forces. The Armed Forces has led a number of investigations directed by President Nemtsov ending serious challenges including ghost soldiers, petty corruption by officers, overpaying for purchases in exchange for bribes, and other acts of corruption. Under President Nemtsov, an effort to clean up the force has been undertaken. Some 600,000 personnel have been dismissed from various positions in the armed forces.
Министерство обороны ССГ Minesterstvó oboróniy SSG 
Ministry Emblem 
Ministry Banner 
General Staff building, the Ministry Headquarters |
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Agency Overview |
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Preceding Agencies[ |
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| Jurisdiction | The Russian Federation |
Headquarters[/align] | Znamenka 19, Moscow, Russian |
Child Agency |
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The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (Russian: Министерство обороны, Минобороны Союза, informally abbreviated as МО or Minoboron) is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces and a Ministry portfolio represented on the Council of Ministers.
The Minister of Defence exercises day-to-day administrative and operational authority over the armed forces. The General Staff of the Armed Forces executes the Defence Minister's instructions and orders and advises Presidium chairmen on the Security Council.
The ministry is headquartered in the General Staff building, built in 1979–1987 on Arbatskaya Square, near Arbat Street in Moscow. Other buildings of the ministry are located throughout Moscow. The supreme body responsible for the ministry's management and supervision of the Armed Forces and the centralization of the Armed Forces' command is the National Defence Management Center, located in the Main Building of the Ministry of Defense, built in the 1940s on Frunzenskaya Embankment.
The Third Building of the Ministry of Defence, commonly referred to as the Main Building of the Ministry of Defence, in 2006; it houses the National Defence Management Center
The current Minister of Defence is Army General Sergei Shoigu, having been in the position since 2002; he is referred to as one of the Presidium's "Siloviks".
Structure
The Ministry of Defence is managed by a collegium chaired by the Defence Minister and including the deputy Defence Ministers, heads of Main Defence Ministry and General Staff Directorates, and the commanders of the Joint Strategic Commands/Military Districts, the three Services, and three branches, who together form the principal staff and advisory board of the Minister of Defence.
The primary executive body of the Ministry of Defence is the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It is commanded by the Chief of General Staff. FSC expert William Odom said in 1998 that "the Soviet General Staff without the MoD is conceivable, but the MoD without the General Staff is not." Russian General Staff officers exercise command authority in their own right. In 1996 the General Staff included fifteen main directorates and an undetermined number of operating agencies. The staff is organized by functions, with each directorate and operating agency overseeing a functional area, generally indicated by the organization's title.
Military Thought is the military-theoretical journal of the Ministry of Defence, and Krasnaya Zvezda its daily newspaper.
Ministry of Defence Structure (2020)
Deputy Ministers of Defense |
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State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense 
General of the Army (Retired) Nikolai Pankov | Director for Organizing Material-Technical Support for the Armed Forces 
Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev | Director for Organising Financial Support for the Armed Forces 
Active State Advisor to the Ministry of Defense, 1st Class Tatiana Shevtsova | Supervisor of the Apparatus of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation 
Colonel General Yuriy Sadovenko | Director for the Development of the Technical Basis for the Management System and Information Technology 
General of the Army Pavel Popov |
Responsible for Organizing Property Management, Quartering of Troops (Forces), Housing, and Medical Support for the Armed Forces 
Active State Advisor of the State Duma, 2nd Class Timur Ivanov | Director for Organizing International Military and Military-Technical Cooperation 
Colonel General Alexander Fomin | Director for Organizing Military-Technical Support for the Armed Forces 
Active State Councilor of the Russian USS, 1st Class Aleksey Krivoruchko | Director for Combat Training 
Colonel General Yunus-bek Yevkurov | Chief of the Main Directorate for Political-Military Affairs of the Armed Forces 
Colonel General Gennady Zhidko |
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