The minister of defence of the Russian Federation () is the minister responsible for 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 ...

. Marshal of Aviation

Yevgeny Shaposhnikov Marshal of Aviation Yevgeny Ivanovich Shaposhnikov (; 3 February 1942 – 8 December 2020) was a Soviet Air Forces officer who served as the final Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union in 1991. He was also the Commander-in-Chief of the Sovi ...

was the last

minister of defence of the Soviet Union The Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union () refers to the head of the Ministry of Defence who was responsible for defence of the socialist/communist Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917 to 1922 and the Soviet Union from 1922 ...

. General Colonel Konstantin Kobets supported then President of the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

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 ...

during the

August coup The 1991 Soviet coup attempt, also known as the August Coup, was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to Coup d'état, forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was President ...

of 1991. From 19 August until 9 September 1991, Konstantin Kobets was defence minister of the RSFSR, though there was no ministry. This post was then abolished. The first minister of defence of the Russian Federation was Boris Yeltsin, who appointed himself to the position by a decree of mid March 1992. In May 1992,

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 ...

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. Grachev's decision to side with Yeltsin in the

Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 In September and October 1993, a constitutional crisis arose in the Russian Federation from a conflict between the then Russian president Boris Yeltsin and the country's parliament. Yeltsin performed a self-coup, dissolving parliament and ins ...

, when the president called up tanks to shell the

Russian White House The White House (, ), officially the House of the Government of the Russian Federation (), also known as the Russian White House and previously as the House of Soviets of Russia, is a government building in Moscow. It stands on the Krasnopresne ...

to blast his opponents out of parliament, effectively deprived the

Supreme Soviet of Russia The Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR, later the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, was the supreme government institution of the Russian SFSR from 1938 to 1990; between 1990 and 1993, it was ...

of its nominal an opportunity to overturn the president's authority. At least partly for that reason, Yeltsin retained his defence minister 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. Finally, Yeltsin's victory in the first round of the

1996 Russian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Russia on 16 June 1996, with a second round being held on 3 July 1996. It resulted in a victory for the incumbent Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who ran as an independent politician. Yeltsin defeated the Co ...

spurred Yeltsin to dismiss Grachev. In March 2001,

Sergei Ivanov Sergei Borisovich Ivanov (, ; born 31 January 1953) is a Russian senior official and politician who has been serving as the Special Presidential Envoy on the Issues of Environmental Activities, Ecology and Transport since 12 August 2016. He h ...

, 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 Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated of ...

. Such men were 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 Dmitry Timofeyevich Yazov (; 8 November 1924 – 25 February 2020) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union. A veteran of the Eastern Front (World War II), Great Patriotic War, Yazov served as Minister of Defence (Soviet Union), Minister of Defence fr ...

. Yazov was listed by the American analysts Scott and Scott in 2002 as a consultant to the (former 10th) Directorate for International Military Cooperation.Harriet F. Scott and William Scott, Russian Military Directory 2002, p. 341, citing DS2002-0802. The last of the four, Yazov, died in February 2020. Perhaps the first 'real' non-uniformed defence minister was

Anatoliy Serdyukov Anatoly Eduardovich Serdyukov (; born 8 January 1962) is a Russian politician and businessman. He was Russia's Minister of Defense from 15 February 2007 to 6 November 2012, and made several major reforms in the Russian military. He has worked a ...

, appointed in February 2007. Serdyukov was a former Tax Minister with little siloviki or military associations beyond his two years' military service.

List of ministers of defence

Timeline

Former first deputy ministers of defence

* (3 April 1992 – 25 January 1996); (25 January 1996 – 28 August 1997), State Secretary * Pavel Grachyov (3 April 1992 – 18 May 1992) *

Viktor Dubynin General of the Army Viktor Petrovich Dubynin (; 1 February 1943 – 22 November 1992) was a prominent Soviet and Russian military officer and a recipient of the title Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously). Biography Born in 1943, Viktor D ...

(10 June 1992 – 22 November 1992), Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces * Mikhail Kolesnikov (23 December 1992 – 18 October 1996), Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces *

Viktor Samsonov General of the Army Viktor Nikolayevich Samsonov (; 10 November 1941 – 17 November 2024) was a Russian and Soviet military officer. He was the last Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1991 to 1992 and was in command of ...

(18 October 1996 – 22 May 1997), Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces *

Anatoly Kvashnin Anatoly Vasilyevich Kvashnin (; 15 August 1946 – 7 January 2022) was a Russian general of the army who served as the Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces from 1997 to 2004, when he was dismissed by President Vladimir Putin. In ...

(23 May 1997 – 19 June 1997), Acting Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces; (19 June 1997 – 19 July 2004), Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces * (11 September 1997 – 28 March 2000), State Secretary *

Vladimir Matyukhin Vladimir Matyukhin (; born 4 February 1945 in Moscow, RSFSR) is a Russian general. Biography Born February 4, 1945. After graduating from high school, from 1962 to 1964, he worked as a laboratory assistant at the Department of Theoretical Physics ...

(11 March 2003 – 21 May 2004) * Yury Baluyevsky (19 July 2004 – 3 June 2008), Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces * Aleksandr Belousov (19 July 2004 – 25 September 2007) * Alexander Kolmakov (25 September 2007 – 21 June 2010) * Nikolai Makarov (3 June 2008 – 9 November 2012), Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces *

Vladimir Popovkin Vladimir Aleksandrovich Popovkin (; 25 September 1957 – 18 June 2014) was a Russian statesman and military figure. He was a commander of the Russian Space Forces, then First Deputy Defense Minister of Russia, then General Director of the Russian ...

(21 June 2010 – 29 April 2011) * Aleksandr Sukhorukov (1 September 2011 – 9 November 2012) *

Arkady Bakhin Arkady Viktorovich Bakhin () is a retired military officer of the Russian Federation with the rank of General of the Army. Biography Bakhin was born 8 May 1956 in Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR. He graduated from the Moscow Higher Command School named ...

(9 November 2012 – 17 November 2015) * Ruslan Tsalikov (24 December 2015 – 29 May 2024)

Former deputy ministers of defence

* (10 June 1992 – 9 February 1995) * (10 June 1992 – 9 February 1995) * (10 June 1992 – 28 March 2001) *

Boris Gromov Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov (; born 7 November 1943) is a Russian politician and former military officer. He was the Governor of Moscow Oblast between January 2000 and May 2012. Deployed thrice to fight in the Soviet–Afghan War, Gromov was t ...

(24 June 1992 – 16 March 1995) * (19 August 1992 – October 1996), Chief of the Main Directorate of Personnel * Konstantin Kobets (?? June 1993 – 18 May 1997), Chief Military Inspector of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation *

Matvey Burlakov Matvey Prokopyevich Burlakov (; 19 August 1935 – 8 February 2011) was a Soviet and Russian colonel general. As the last commander of the Western Group of Forces between 1990 and 1994, he was responsible for supervising the withdrawal of Russia ...

(23 August 1994 – 9 February 1995) * Anatoly Solomatin (9 February 1995 – ?? April 1997), Chief of Construction and Quartering of Troops * (17 January 1995 – 16 June 1997), Chief of Logistics of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation * (?? April 1997 – 6 March 2003), Chief of Construction and Quartering of Troops * Vladimir Isakov (30 June 1997 – 2 December 2008), Chief of Logistics of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation * (13 November 2000 – 8 April 2004) * (28 March 2001 – 19 April 2007), Chief of Armament of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation * Igor Puzanov (28 March 2001 – 18 October 2004), State Secretary * (28 March 2001 – 18 October 2004), Chief of the Main Financial-Economic Administration of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation for Financial-Economic Work; (1 September 2007 – 14 April 2009), Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation for Financial-Economic Work *

Nikolai Kormiltsev Nikolai Viktorovich Kormiltsev (; born 14 March 1946) was Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces from 2001 to 2004, before being replaced by Alexey Maslov. Biography Kormiltsev was born on 14 March 1946 in Omsk, joining the Soviet ...

(28 April 2001 – 29 September 2004), Commander-in-chief of the Land Force * (4 March 2003 – 18 October 2004), Chief of Construction and Quartering of Troops * Nikolay Pankov (13 September 2005 — 17 June 2024) * Nikolai Makarov (19 April 2007 – 3 June 2008), Chief of Armament of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation * Oleg Eskin (19 November 2007 – 20 November 2008) *

(?? July 2008 – 21 June 2010), Chief of Armament of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation * (17 September 2008 – 12 January 2010), Chief of Quartering and Accommodation * Dmitry Chushkin (20 November 2008 – 15 November 2012) *

Dmitry Bulgakov Dmitry Vitalyevich Bulgakov (Russian: Дмитрий Витальевич Булгаков; born 20 October 1954) is a former Russian Ground Forces officer, a specialist in the field of logistic support of the armed forces. He was Deputy Ministe ...

(2 December 2008 – 27 July 2010), Chief of Logistics of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation * (14 April 2009 – 4 November 2010), Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation for Financial-Economic Work *

Grigory Naginsky Grigory Mikhailovich Naginskiy (; born June 16, 1958, in Orsk, Orenburg Oblast) is a Russian politician, Candidate of Sciences. Senator – member of the Federation Council from Leningrad Oblast in 2003–2010, member of Industrial Policy Committ ...

(12 January 2010 – 6 July 2010), Chief of Quartering and Accommodation; (6 July 2010 – 22 April 2011) * Mikhail Mokretsov (27 July 2010 – 5 July 2011), Chief of Staff of the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation; (5 July 2011 – 10 December 2011) *

Tatiana Shevtsova Tatiana Viktorovna Shevtsova (; born 22 July 1969) is a former Russian Deputy Minister of Defence and Order of Honour recipient. She has the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation. E ...

(4 August 2010 — 17 June 2024) * Yelena Kozlova (25 June 2012 – 15 November 2012) *

Oleg Ostapenko Oleg Nikolayevich Ostapenko (, , born 3 May 1957) is the former director of Roscosmos, the federal space agency, retired Colonel General in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, former Deputy Minister of Defence, and former commander of t ...

(9 November 2012 – 9 October 2013) * Ruslan Tsalikov (15 November 2012 – 24 December 2015) *

Pavel Popov Pavel Anatolyevich Popov (; born 1 January 1957) is a retired Russian army officer who was the Deputy Minister of Defense between 7 November 2013 and 17 June 2024. He holds the rank of General of the Reserve Army. Popov had previously been the ...

(7 November 2013 — 17 June 2024) * Aleksei Dyumin (24 December 2015 – 2 February 2016) *

Anatoly Antonov Anatoly Ivanovich Antonov ( rus, Анатoлий Ивaнович Антoнов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ɐnˈtonəf; born 15 May 1955) is a Russian military official and diplomat who served as the Ambassador of Russia to the United ...

(2 February 2011 – 29 December 2016) *

Yury Borisov Yury Ivanovich Borisov (; born 31 December 1956) is a Russian politician, former military strategist, and mathematician currently serving as Federation Council Senator from Arkhangelsk Oblast. Borisov served as General Director of Roscosmos f ...

(15 November 2012 – 18 May 2018) *

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 ...

(7 January 2013 – 20 May 2024) *

Timur Ivanov Timur Vadimovich Ivanov (Russian: Тимур Вадимович Иванов; born 15 August 1975) is a Russian politician who served as Deputy Defence Minister of Russia from 2016 to 2024. He previously served as the Deputy Governor of the Mosco ...

(11 November 2016 – 24 April 2024) *

Andrey Kartapolov Andrey Valeryevich Kartapolov (; born 9 November 1963) is a Russian politician and former army officer of the Russian Army. From 30 July 2018 to October 2021 he served as Deputy Minister of Defence (Russia), Defence Minister, and headed the Main ...

(30 July 2018 — 5 October 2021), Head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces *

Gennady Zhidko Gennady Valeryevich Zhidko (; 12 September 1965 – 16 August 2023) was a colonel general of the Russian Armed Forces. He was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation in 2017 for his service as chief of staff of Russian forces deploye ...

(12 November 2021 — 28 July 2022), Head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces *

Mikhail Mizintsev Mikhail Yevgenyevich Mizintsev (; born 10 September 1962) is a Russian colonel general. He headed the National Defense Management Center of Russia, served as the deputy minister of defence of Russia for logistics from 24 September 2022 to 27 A ...

(24 September 2022 – 27 April 2023) * Alexey Kuzmenkov (30 April 2023 — 11 March 2024)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minister Of Defence (Russia)

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 ...