page_title: Ministry of Defence (Russia)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Ministry of Defence (Russia) / History
caption_attribution_description: The building of the Ministry of War 1817-1820
context_page_description: The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces.
  The President of Russia is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and directs the activity of the Ministry. The Defence Minister exercises day-to-day administrative and operational authority over the armed forces. The General Staff executes the president's and the defence minister's instructions and orders.
  The main building of the ministry, built in the 1940s, is located on Arbatskaya Square, near Arbat Street. Other buildings of the ministry are located throughout the city of Moscow. The supreme body responsible for the Ministry's management and supervision of the Armed Forces is The National Defense Management Center located on Frunze Naberezhnaya and responsible for the centralization of the Armed Forces' command.
  The current Russian Minister of Defence is Army General Sergey Shoygu.
context_section_description: The authors of the U.S. Library of Congress Country Studies' volume for Russia said in July 1996 that:
  The structure of the Russian Defense Ministry does not imply military subordination to civilian authority in the Western sense. The historical tradition of military command is considerably different in Russia. The tsars were educated as officers, and they regularly wore military uniforms and held military rank. Josef Stalin in his later years in power frequently wore a military uniform, and he assumed the title Generalissimo of the Soviet Union. Likewise, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was named Marshal of the Soviet Union. By tradition dating back to the tsars, the Minister of Defense was a uniformed officer,' with military background (Dmitry Milyutin, Rodion Malinovsky) or without (Dmitriy Ustinov). The State Duma also seats a large number of deputies who are active-duty military officers—another tradition that began in the Russian imperial era. These combinations of military and civilian authority ensure that military concerns are considered at the highest levels of the Russian government.
caption: Lobanov-Rostovsky Palace, Former Defense Ministry building.
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