Russian Military

The **Military of the Russian Federation (MRF)** is composed of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation, Russian Aerospace Forces, Russian Navy (Maritime Fleet), Coastal Troops, Russian Naval Infantry, Strategic Missile Troops, Russian Airborne Forces, Special Operations Forces of Russia. They are collectively referred to as the Armed Forces of Russia. The president of the Russian Federation is the supreme commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and forms military policy with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the chief of the general staff.

## About

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Russian: Вооружённые Си́лы Росси́йской Федера́ции, tr. Vooruzhonnije Síly Rossíyskoj Federátsii), commonly known as the Russian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Russian Federation, established after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. On 7 May 1992, Boris Yeltsin signed a presidential decree establishing the Russian Ministry of Defence and placing all Soviet Armed Forces troops on the territory of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic under Russian control. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is the President of Russia. The Russian Armed Forces were formed in 1992. It is one of the world's largest military forces. According to Credit Suisse, Russia has the world's second-most powerful military. It is also the world's second largest arms exporter.

Under Russian federal law, the RuAF along with the Federal Security Service (FSB)'s Border Troops, the National Guard, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), the Federal Protective Service (FSO), the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and EMERCOM's civil defence form Russia's military services and are under direct control of the Security Council of Russia.

## Service Branches

Armed forces under the Ministry of Defence are divided into:

* the three "branches of Armed Forces" (вида вооружённых сил): the Ground Forces, Aerospace Forces, and the Navy
* the two "separate troop branches" (Отдельные рода войск): the Strategic Missile Troops and the Airborne Troops
* the Logistical Support, 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.

## Information in Brief

### Foundational History

The Soviet Union officially dissolved on 25 December 1991, leaving the Soviet military in limbo. For the next year and a half 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, while a series of treaties between the newly independent states divided up the military's assets.

### History-in-Brief

After the eventual formation of the Russian Armed Forces they engaged in several wars both on earth and in space in command of ships like the Korolev.

### Command Structure

The Defence Ministry of the Russian Federation serves as the administrative body of the Armed Forces. Since Soviet times, the General Staff has acted as the main commanding and supervising body of the Russian armed forces.

The Russian military is divided into three services: the Russian Ground Forces, the Russian Navy, and the Russian Aerospace Forces. In addition there are two independent arms of service: the Strategic Missile Troops and the Russian Airborne Troops. The Armed Forces as a whole are traditionally referred to as the Army (armiya), except in some cases, the Navy is specifically singled out.

They have five military commands and five fleets these are:

* Joint Strategic Command West - Western Military District (HQ in St. Petersburg), includes the Baltic Fleet;
* Joint Strategic Command Northern Fleet - (HQ in Severomorsk);
* Joint Strategic Command South - Southern Military District (HQ in Rostov-on-Don) includes the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla;
* Joint Strategic Command Center - Central Military District (HQ in Yekaterinburg);
* Joint Strategic Command East - Eastern Military District (HQ in Khabarovsk), includes the Pacific Fleet.

The Five Fleets are the Pacific Fleet, Caspian Flotilla, Black Sea Fleet, Baltic Fleet and the Northern Fleet which is its own Joint Strategic Command.

## Notes

* There is no order of precedence in the russian armed forces as there is in the United States Military,