The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (; MOD) is the governing body of the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...

. The

President of Russia The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...

is the Commander-in-Chief of the forces and directs the activity of the ministry. The

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

exercises day-to-day administrative and operational authority over the forces. The General Staff of the Armed Forces executes the instructions and orders of the president and the defence minister. 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 Defense Management Center The National Defense Management Center, also known as the National Defense Control Center (NDCC) (, ) НЦУО, formerly the Central Command Post of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces is the supreme Command center, command and control ...

, located in the Main Building of the Ministry of Defense, built in the 1940s on Frunzenskaya Embankment. The current Minister of Defence is

Andrey Belousov Andrey Removich Belousov (born 17 March 1959) is a Russian politician and economist, serving as the Minister of Defence since May 2024. From January 2020 to May 2024, he served as First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia.

(since 14 May 2024).

History

The U.S.

Library of Congress Country Studies The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the United States Library of Congress, freely available for use by researchers. No copyright is claimed on them. Therefore, they have been dedicated to the public domain ...

' volume for Russia said in July 1996 that: On 18 May 1992,

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

appointed

General of the Army Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...

Pavel Grachev Pavel Sergeyevich Grachev (; 1 January 1948 – 23 September 2012), sometimes transliterated as Grachov or Grachyov, was a Russian Army General and the Defence Minister of the Russian Federation from 1992 to 1996; in 1988 he was awarded Hero ...

to the post of Minister of Defence. Despite intense criticism of Grachev's management of the

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also referred to as the First Russo-Chechen War, was a struggle for independence waged by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the invading Russia, Russian Federation from 1994 to 1996. After a mutually agreed on treaty ...

and the Russian military establishment in general, Yeltsin retained Grachev till 18 June 1996. The new minister of defence became

Igor Rodionov, who subsequently was substituted by

Marshal of the Russian Federation Marshal of the Russian Federation () is the highest military rank of Russia, created in 1993 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It ranks immediately above Army general and Admiral of the fleet (also called Fleet Admiral in some Eng ...

Igor Sergeyev Igor Dmitriyevich Sergeyev (; 20 April 1938 – 10 November 2006) was a Soviet and later Russian military officer who was Minister of Defense of Russia from 22 May 1997 to 28 March 2001. Before that he was the commander of the Strategic Rocket ...

. In March 2001, Sergei Ivanov, previously secretary of the

Security Council of Russia The Security Council of the Russian Federation ( SCRF or Sovbez; ) is a constitutional consultative body of the Russian president that supports the president's decision-making on national security affairs and matters of strategic interest. Comp ...

, was appointed defence minister by President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

, becoming Russia's first non-uniformed civilian defence minister. Putin called the personnel changes in Russia's security structures coinciding with Ivanov's appointment as defence minister "a step toward demilitarizing public life." Putin also stressed Ivanov's responsibility for overseeing military reform as defence minister. What Putin did not emphasise was Ivanov's long service within the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

and FSB and his then rank of General-Lieutenant within the FSB. Such military and security agency-associated men are known as

siloviki In the politics of Russia, Russian political lexicon, a ''silovik'' ( rus, силовик, p=sʲɪlɐˈvʲik; plural: ''siloviki'', rus, силовики, p=sʲɪləvʲɪˈkʲi) is a person who works for any state organisation that is authori ...

. As of 2002, there were four living Marshals of the Soviet Union. Such men are automatically Advisors to the Defence Minister. The Marshals alive at that time were

Viktor Kulikov Viktor Georgiyevich Kulikov (; 5 July 1921 – 28 May 2013) was the Warsaw Pact commander-in-chief from 1977 to 1989. He was awarded the rank of the Marshal of the Soviet Union on 14 January 1977. Kulikov was born into a peasant family and jo ...

, Vasily Petrov, Sergei Sokolov, a former Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union, and Dmitri Yazov. Yazov was listed by the American analysts Scott and Scott in 2002 as a consultant to the (formerly 10th) Directorate for International Military Cooperation. Perhaps the first 'real' non-uniformed Defence Minister was Anatoly Serdyukov, appointed in February 2007. Serdyukov was a former Tax Minister with little siloviki or military associations beyond his two years of military service. Serdyukov launched the military reform in 2008. On 19 August 2010, Serdyukov appointed Tatyana Shevtsova as his deputy. As of that date, more than 50 women had been appointed by Serdyukov, and mainly in the tax accountant profession. In 2012, he was substituted by

Sergey Shoigu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu; , . (born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician and military officer who has served as secretary of the Security Council since 2024. He served as Minister of Defence of Russia from 2012 to 2024. Shoigu has served ...

, who held at that moment the position of the Minister of Civil Defence, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief. In May 2024 simultaneous with the Fifth inauguration of Vladimir Putin on the 14th,

was released from duty and several of his staff were investigated for corruption or other misdeeds: Yuri Vasilievich Kuznetsov, Timur Ivanov, Ruslan Tsalikov, as well as Vadim Shamarin, Ivan Ivanovich Popov, Vladimir Verteletsky, and Sukhrab Akhmedov. On 17 June 2024, it was noted that four deputy defence ministers, Nikolay Pankov, Ruslan Tsalikov, Tatiana Shevtsova and Pavel Popov, had been sacked for

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

that had entered the Ministry. Russian energy minister

Sergey Tsivilyov Sergey Yevgenyevich Tsivilyov (; born 21 September 1961) is a Russian statesman, politician, economist and former military officer who is currently serving as the Minister of Energy of Russia since 14 May 2024. He is related to Russian leader Vl ...

's wife, Anna Tsivileva, the daughter of a cousin of the President, was appointed deputy defence minister. Her responsibilities include improving social and housing support for military personnel. Leonid Gornin, previously the first deputy finance minister, was appointed as the first deputy defence minister. Other personnel changes included Oleg Savelyev and the son of former Prime Minister

Mikhail Fradkov Mikhail Yefimovich Fradkov ( rus, Михаи́л Ефи́мович Фрадко́в, p=mʲɪxɐˈil jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ frɐtˈkof; born 1 September 1950) is a Russian politician who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 2004 to 2007. An Ind ...

. Pavel Fradkov would oversee the management of property, land and construction relating to the military. Other reports had Tsivileva as Putin's niece. On 18 July it was revealed that Lt Gen Shamarin had been formally dismissed from his post because he had accepted bribes from a supplier. He had been serving as deputy chief of the army’s general staff overseeing the signals corps and military communications. On 24 July the Deputy Chief of the Satellite Communications Center for Strategic Nuclear Missile Forces Andrei Torgashev was apparently victimized at his residence by a car bomb.

Structure

The Ministry of Defence is managed by a collegium chaired by the Defence Minister and including the deputy Defence Ministers, heads of the Main Defence Ministry and General Staff Directorates, 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 executive body of the Ministry of Defence is the

General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation () is the military staff of the Russian Armed Forces. It is the central organ of the military command of the Armed Forces Administration and oversees operational command of the arme ...

, which is headed by the

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...

. U.S. expert

William Odom William Eldridge Odom (June 23, 1932 – May 30, 2008) was a United States Army lieutenant general who served as Director of the National Security Agency under President Ronald Reagan, which culminated a 31-year career in military intelligence, ma ...

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'' is its daily newspaper.

Structure in 2024

Senior staff in 2024 included:RF MOD website www.mil.ru accessed 18 August 2019. ;Minister of Defence: * Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation –

1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation 70px, Shoulder's rank 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal state civilian service rank of Russia. The rank of the 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation was first introduced ...

(since 14 May 2024) ;First Deputy Minister(s) of Defence: *

– First Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation –

Valery Gerasimov Valery Vasilyevich Gerasimov (born 8 September 1955) is a Russian Army general (Russia), army general serving as the Chief of the General Staff (Russia), Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and First Deputy Ministry of Defen ...

(since 9 November 2012) * First Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation –

Leonid Gornin (since 17 June 2024) ;Deputy Minister(s) of Defence: * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for Organising Material-Technical and

Logistical Support of the Russian Armed Forces Logistical Support of the Russian Armed Forces (, literally Materiel-Technical Support) or MTO are a unified system of command and control bodies, institutions and other military organizations that provide technical and logistical support for all ...

) –

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Andrey Bulyga (since 11 March 2024) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for Organising Financial Support for the Armed Forces) –

Anna Tsivilyova (since 17 June 2024) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation – Supervisor of the Apparatus of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation –

Oleg Savelyev (since 20 May 2024) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for the Development of the Technical Basis for the Management System and Information Technology) –

Pavel Fradkov (since 17 June 2024) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for Organising International Military and Military-Technical Cooperation) –

Colonel General Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

Alexander Fomin (since 31 January 2017) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for Organising Military-Technical Support for the Armed Forces) –

Alexey Krivoruchko (since 13 June 2018) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for Combat Training) –

Army general Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...

Yunus-bek Yevkurov (since 8 July 2019) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation – Chief of the Main Directorate for Political-Military Affairs of the Russian Armed Forces –

Viktor Goremykin (since 28 July 2022)

Structure in 2021

Senior staff in 2021 included:RF MOD website www.mil.ru accessed 18 August 2019. ;Minister of Defence: * Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation –

Sergei Shoigu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu; , . (born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician and military officer who has served as secretary of the Security Council since 2024. He served as Minister of Defence of Russia from 2012 to 2024. Shoigu has served a ...

(since 6 November 2012) ;First Deputy Minister(s) of Defence: *

– First Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation –

(since 9 November 2012) * First Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation –

Ruslan Tsalikov (since 24 December 2015) ;Deputy Minister(s) of Defence: * State Secretary – Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation –

and General of the Army of reserve Nikolay Pankov (since 13 September 2005) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for Organising Material-Technical Support for the Armed Forces) –

Mikhail Mizintsev (since 24 September 2022) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for Organising Financial Support for the Armed Forces) –

Tatiana Shevtsova (since 4 August 2010) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation – Supervisor of the Apparatus of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation –

Yuriy Sadovenko Yury Eduardovich Sadovenko () is a Russian army officer who had served as the Deputy Ministry of Defence (Russia), Minister of Defence from 2013 to 2024. He is a recipient of Order of Military Merit (Russia), Order of Military Merit and Medal of ...

(since 7 January 2013) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for the Development of the Technical Basis for the Management System and Information Technology) –

Pavel Popov (since 7 November 2013) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for Organising Property Management, Quartering of Troops (Forces), Housing, and Medical Support for the Armed Forces) –

Timur Ivanov (since 23 May 2016) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for Organising International Military and Military-Technical Cooperation) –

Alexander Fomin (since 31 January 2017) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for Organising Military-Technical Support for the Armed Forces) –

Alexey Krivoruchko (since 13 June 2018) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Responsible for Combat Training) –

Yunus-Bek Yevkurov (since 8 July 2019) * Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation – Chief of the Main Directorate for Political-Military Affairs of the Russian Armed Forces –

Colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

Viktor Goremykin (since 28 July 2022)

Organization in 2012

Entities directly subordinated to the Minister of Defence in August 2012 included: * MOD Press Service and Information Directorate * MOD Physical Training Directorate * MOD Financial Auditing Inspectorate * MOD Main Military Medical Directorate * MOD State Order Placement Department * MOD Property Relations Department * Expert Center of the MOD Staff * MOD Administration Directorate * MOD State Defence Order Facilitation Department * MOD Department of the State Customer for Capital Construction * MOD State Architectural-Construction Oversight Department * MOD Sanatoria-resort Support Department * MOD Housekeeping Directorate * MOD State Review/Study Group * MOD Educational Department * MOD Legal Department * MOD Organizational-inspection Department * MOD Personnel Inspectorate * MOD Military Inspectorate * MOD State Technical Oversight Directorate * MOD Aviation Flight Safety Service * MOD Nuclear and Radiation Safety Oversight Directorate * MOD Autotransport Directorate * MOD Staff Protocol Department * MOD Armed Force Weapons Turnover Oversight Service * MOD Main Military Police Directorate The Office of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defence was established in 2008, consisting of around thirty retired senior officers. The main task of the office is "to promote the organization of combat and operational training of troops, the construction and further development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the development of the theory and history of military art, and the education of personnel." It is the successor to the

Soviet Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...

's Group of Inspectors General, which was dissolved in 1992.

Outline structure 2004

An outline structure of the Ministry of Defence includes the groupings below, but this structure was in transition when it was recorded in 2004, with several deputy minister posts being abolished: *Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation *Federal Service for the Defence Order *Federal Service for Technical and Export Control *Federal Special Construction Agency of the MOD *11th Directorate of the MOD (function unclear) * 12th Main Directorate of the MOD (nuclear weapons) *16th Directorate of the MOD (function unclear) *Hydrometeorological Service of the Armed Forces *Military Inspectorate *Directorate of Information and Public Relations *1st Separate Brigade of Protection of the MOD *Archives of the Armed Forces (see also Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defence) *State Corporation for Air Traffic Control *Central Theater of the Russian Army *All-Russian Centre for Retraining Officers *

**Directorates, departments, etc. **

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

Strategic Rocket Forces The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN RF; ) is a military branch, separate combat arm of the Russian Armed Forces that controls Russia's land-based intercontinenta ...

** Russian Airborne Troops **

Russian Space Forces The Russian Space Forces () is the space force branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces. It was reestablished following the August 1, 2015 merger between the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces, after the independent arm of s ...

*First Deputy Minister of Defence **Main Directorate for Combat Training of the Armed Forces **Directorate of Force Management and Security of Military Service *Army General Nikolay Pankov, State Secretary – Deputy Min. of DefenceState Secretary, Deputy Minister of Defence
, Russian Ministry of Defence, accessed May 2008. **Liaison with Political Power Institutions **

ain Ain (, ; ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

Directorate for Indoctrination olitical Work, Morale**

Directorate for International Military Cooperation **Directorate for Military Education of the Ministry of Defence **Directorate of Foreign Relations **Directorate of Force Management & Security of Military Service **Directorate of Ecology & Special Means of Protection Min Def RF **Press Service of the Ministry of Defence **Flight Safety Service of Aviation of the Armed Forces RF *Deputy Minister of Defence – Chief of Rear of the Armed Forces **Military medical, trade, transportation, food, clothing, etc. *Deputy Minister of Defence – Chief of Armaments of the Armed Forces **Test ranges, study centres,

Military research institutes A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

etc. **

GRAU The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the Chief of ...

** Main Automotive-Armoured Tank Directorate of the MOD (GABTU) **Autobase of Ministry of Defence **Military Registry **Federal State Unitary Enterprise

Rosoboronexport JSC Rosoboronexport (ROE; , ''Rosoboroneksport'') is the sole state intermediary agency for Russia's exports/imports of defense-related and dual use products, technologies and services. The Rosoboronexport Federal State Unitary Enterprise (FSU ...

**Military Industrial Council *Deputy Minister of Defence – Chief of Construction and Billeting Service **Main Military Construction Directorate **Main Quarters Exploitation Directorate **other Directorates, departments etc. *Lyubov Kudelina , Deputy Minister of Defence for Financial-Economic Work **Financial-Economic Section of the MOD **Directorate of Military-Economic Analysis and Expertise **Financial Inspectorate of the MOD **Federation of Trade Unions for Civilian Workers of the Armed Forces *Deputy Minister of Defence – Chief of the Main Department of Cadres ersonnel**military schools, military academies, etc.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Defence (Russia) Defence

Defence Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Military of Russia Defence, Ministry of Russian and Soviet military-related lists 1992 establishments in Russia