Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

Services (Vid) Russian Air Force Russian Ground Forces Russian Navy Independent troops Strategic Rocket Forces Russian Space Forces Russian Airborne Troops Other troops Naval Infantry Naval Aviation Missiles and Artillery Command Anti-Air Defense Ranks of the Russian Military Air Force ranks and insignia Army ranks and insignia Navy ranks and insignia History of the Russian Military Military History of Russia History of Russian military ranks Military ranks of the Soviet Union

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (UTC) (Russian: Вооружённые Си́лы Росси́йской Федера́ции Transliteration: Vooruzhyónniye síly Rossíyskoy Federátsii) is the military of Russia, established after the break-up of the Soviet Union. On 7 May 1992 Boris Yeltsin signed a decree establishing the Russian Ministry of Defence and placing all Soviet Armed Forces troops on the territory of the RSFSR under Russian Federation control.^[1] The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces is the President of the Russian Federation (currently Vladimir Putin). Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Russian Air Force (Russian: Военно-воздушные cилы России, transliteration: Voyenno-vozdushnye sily Rossii) is the air force of Russia. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Russian Ground Forces (Russian: ) are the land forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Russian Navy or VMF (Russian: Военно-Морской Флот (ВМФ) - Voyenno- Morskoy Flot (VMF) or Military Maritime Fleet) is the naval arm of the Russian armed forces. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Strategic Rocket Forces of Russia (Russian: Ракетные войска стратегического назначения (РВСН), transliteration: Raketnye voyska strategicheskogo naznacheniya) are a major division of the Russian armed forces that controls Russias land-based ICBMs. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Russian Airborne minor emblem Russian Airborne major emblem The Russian Airborne Troops or VDV ( from Vozdushno-Desantnye Voyska Russian: Воздушно-десантные войска = ВДВ) is an arm of service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, on a par with the Strategic Rocket Forces and the Russian Space Forces. ... Russian Marines emblem and slogan Naval Infantry of Russia: Victory follows us! The Russian Marines, perhaps better translated as the Russian Naval Infantry, (Russian: Морская пехота ) are an elite force of the Russian Armed Forces. ... Insignia of Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force or VVS (transliterated from Russian: Военно-воздушные силы (Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily)) is the air force of the Russian Federation, , the official designation of the former Soviet Air Force. ... Main Agency of Missiles and Artillery of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (Главное ракетно-артиллерийское управление МО РФ, ГРАУ) is a department of Soviet/Russian Ministry of Defense which is subordinated to the Chief of Armament and Munition of the Armed Forces, vice-minister of defense (начальник вооружения ВС РФ - заместитель Министра обороны РФ). In particular, the GRAU is responsible for assignment... Voyska PVO (Russian: Войска ПВО, or PVO Strany until 1981) was the air defense branch of the Soviet military. ... Emblem of the Russian Air Force The following table presents images of the rank insignia used by the Russian Federation Air Force (VVS). ... Emblem of Armed forces of the Russian Federation Emblem of the Land forces of the Russian Federation The independent Russia inherited the ranks of the Soviet Union, although the insignia and uniform was altered a little. ... Insignia of the Russian Navy. ... The military history of Russia may refer to the following things: Military history of Muscovy Military history of Imperial Russia Military history of the Soviet Union Military history of the Russian Federation This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Modern Russian military ranks trace their roots to Table of Ranks established by Peter the Great. ... The military ranks of the Soviet Union were those introduced after the October Revolution of 1917. ... “Yeltsin” redirects here. ... This article is about the armed forces of the Soviet Union. ... State motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Workers of the world, unite!) Official language None (Russian in practice) Capital Moscow Chairman of the Supreme... Commander-in-Chief (in NATO-lingo often C-in-C or CINC pronounced sink) is the commander of all the military forces within a particular region or of all the military forces of a state. ... The President of Russia (ru: Президент России) is the highest position within the Government of Russia. ... Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: ) (born October 7, 1952) is the current President of the Russian Federation. ...

Organization

The Defence Ministry of the Russian Federation serves as the administrative body of the military. Since Soviet times, the General Staff has acted as the main commanding and supervising body of the Russian Military Forces. However, currently the General Staff's role is being reduced to that of the Ministry's department of strategic planning, the Minister himself, currently Anatoliy Serdyukov may now be gaining further executive authority over the troops. Other departments include the personnel directorate as well as the Rear Services of the Armed Forces of Russia, railroad troops and construction troops. The Chief of the General Staff is currently General of the Army Yuri Baluyevsky. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is responsible for the army and navy of the Russian Federation and presents the President and Prime Minister with information on the condition and requirments of the army and navy. ... The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is the central organ of the Armed Forces Administration and the basic organ of operational management of the armed forces. ... Anatoliy Eduardovich Serdyukov (Russian: ) (b. ... The Rear Services of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Russian: ) is a part of the Russian Armed Forces. ... The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is the central organ of the Armed Forces Administration and the basic organ of operational management of the armed forces. ... General of the Army is a military rank used in some countries of the world to denote a senior military leader, usually a General in command of a nations Army. ... General Yury Nikolayevich Baluyevsky (Юрий Николаевич Балуевский), born 9 January, 1947 at Truskavets in the Ukrainian SSR, is the First Deputy Minister of Defense and, since July 2004, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. ...

Major Emblem of Armed forces of the Russian Federation

The Russian military is divided into the following branches: Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force. There are also three independent arms of service : Strategic Missile Troops, Military Space Forces, and the Airborne Troops. The Troops of Air Defence, the former Voyska PVO, have been subordinated into the Air Force since 1998. The Armed Forces as a whole seem to be traditionally referred to as the Army (armiya), except in some cases, the Navy. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Russian Ground Forces (Russian: ) are the land forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. ... The Russian Navy or VMF (Russian: Военно-Морской Флот (ВМФ) - Voyenno- Morskoy Flot (VMF) or Military Maritime Fleet) is the naval arm of the Russian armed forces. ... The Russian Air Force (Russian: Военно-воздушные cилы России, transliteration: Voyenno-vozdushnye sily Rossii) is the air force of Russia. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Strategic Rocket Forces. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... VDV flag. ... Voyska PVO (Russian: Войска ПВО, or PVO Strany until 1981) was the air defense branch of the Soviet military. ...

The Ground Forces are divided into six military districts: Moscow, Leningrad (not St Petersburg), North Caucausian, Privolzhsk-Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern. The name Leningrad remains for the district in the north-west of Russia in honour of the estimated 1.5 million who gave their lives during the German siege of the city in 1941-44. The Transcaucasus Group of Forces is part of the North Caucasus Military District. Military districts are territorial entities used for the purposes of military planning and strategizing. ... The Moscow Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. ... The Leningrad Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. ... The North Caucasus Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. ... The Volga-Ural Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed on 1 September 2001 by the amalgamation of the Volga Military District and the Ural Military District. ... The Siberian Military District is a Military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. ... The Far Eastern Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which traces its history originally to the East Siberian Military District originally formed in 1918, during the Russian Civil War. ... Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград) may mean: St. ... Transcaucasian Front or Transcaucasus Front (Russian: Закавказский Фронт) was a Front (military subdivision) of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. ... The North Caucasus Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. ...

The Navy consists of four fleets:

• Baltic Fleet (HQ at Baltiysk in the enclave of Kaliningrad Oblast).
• Pacific Fleet (HQ at Vladivostok).
• Northern Fleet (HQ at Severomorsk).
• Black Sea Fleet (HQ at Sevastopol, Ukraine. (In 2005, the Ukrainian government agreed that Russia would be allowed to lease several base areas around Sevastopol until 2017.)^[2]

There is also the Kaliningrad Special Region, under the command of the Commander Baltic Fleet, which has a HQ Ground & Coastal Forces, formerly the 11th Guards Army, with a motor rifle division and a motor rifle brigade, and a fighter aviation regiment of Sukhoi Su-27 'Flanker', as well as other forces. Russian Baltic Fleet sleeve ensign The Baltic Fleet (Russian: Балтийский флот, in the Soviet period - The Double Red Banner Baltic Fleet - Дважды Краснознамённый Балтийский флот) is located at the Baltic Sea and headquartered in Kaliningrad, the other major base is at Kronstadt, located in the Gulf of Finland. ... Baltiysk (Балтийск) – known prior to 1945 by its German name, Pillau (Polish PiÅ‚awa, Lithuanian Piliava)– is a Russian sea port in the strait between Vistula Bay and Gdansk Bay, called Strait of Baltiysk on the territory of Kaliningrad Oblast with about 20,000 inhabitants. ... Kaliningrad Oblast (Russian: , Kaliningradskaya Oblast; informally called Yantarny kray (, meaning amber region) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) on the Baltic coast. ... Pacific Fleet (Тихоокеанский флот in Russian, or Tikhookeanskiy flot), a part of the Soviet Navy stationed in the Pacific Ocean, which secured the Far Eastern borders of the USSR. The fleet headquarters was located at... Vladivostok (Russian: ) is the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia, situated close to the Russo-Sino border and North Korea. ... Northern Fleet patch featuring the Andreyevsky ensign It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet. ... Severomorsk (Russian: Северомо́рск) is a town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located about 25 km north of Murmansk. ... Black Sea Fleet sleeve ensign The Black Sea Fleet (Russian: Черноморский флот) is a large sub-unit of the Russian (and formerly Soviet) Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the early 18th century. ... Location Map of Ukraine with Sevastopol highlighted. ... Kaliningrad (Russian: ; Lithuanian: Karaliaučius; German  , Polish: Królewiec; briefly Russified as Kyonigsberg), is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. ... Su-27 Flanker redirects here. ...

Russian command posts, according to Globalsecurity.org, include Chekhov/Sharapovo about 50 miles south of Moscow, for the General Staff and President, Chaadayevka near Penza, Voronovo in Moscow, and a facility at Lipetsk all for the national leadership, Mount Yamantaw in the Urals, and command posts for the Strategic Rocket Forces at Kuntsevo in Moscow (primary) and Kosvinsky Mountain in the Urals (alternate).^[3] Many of the Moscow bunkers are linked by the special underground Moscow Metro 2 line. GlobalSecurity. ... Chekhov (Че́хов) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. ... Mount Yamantau Mount Yamantaw, also known as Mount Yamantau, located in Ural Mountains, Bashkortostan, Russia. ... The Strategic Rocket Forces of Russia (Russian: Ракетные войска стратегического назначения (РВСН), transliteration: Raketnye voyska strategicheskogo naznacheniya) are a major division of the Russian armed forces that controls Russias land-based ICBMs. ... The Ural Mountains, (Russian: Ура́льские го́ры = Ура́л) also known simply as the Urals, are a mountain range that run roughly north and south through western Russia. ... The Metro 2 in Moscow, Russia is a secret underground metro system which parallels the public Moscow Metro. ...

Russian armed forces not under the control of the Ministry of Defence include the Border Guards, Internal Troops, the Federal Security Service, the Federal Protective Service (Russia), the Federal Communications and Information Agency, and presidential guard services. Internal Troops (full name Internal Troops of the MVD), now called the Federal Guard are the 250,000 strong uniformed military mobile force of the Russian security forces (MVD) and are used to deal with major disturbances and internal security matters. ... The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (Федера́льная слу́жба безопа́сности Росси́йск&#1086... In the Russian Federation, the Federal Protective Service was formerly the Ninth Chief (aka The Guards) Directorate of the KGB and is now an independent organization. ... Coat of Arms of FAPSI FAPSI (Russian: ) or Federal Agency of Government Communications and Information (Russian: ) is a Russian government agency, one of the successors of KGB. It also sometimes is referred by its English acronym FAGCI. // History FAPSI was created on the basis of 8th (Government Communications) and 16th...

Personnel

As of 2005, some 330,000 young men are brought into the Army via conscription in two call-ups each year. Liberal legislation allows about 90 percent of eligible young men to avoid conscription.^[6] There are widespread problems with hazing in the Army, known as Dedovshchina, where first-year draftees are bullied by second-year draftees, a practice that was common in the Soviet Union. To combat this problem, a new decree was signed in March of 2007, which cut the conscription service term from 24 to 18 months.^[7] The term will be cut further to one year from January 1, 2008.^[7] 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hazing is an often ritualistic test and a task, which may constitute harassment, abuse or humiliation with requirements to perform random, often meaningless tasks, sometimes as a way of initiation into a social group. ... Dedovshchina (Russian: ) is the name given to the informal system of subjugation of new junior conscripts for the Russian armed forces, Interior Ministry, and (to a much lesser extent) FSB border guards to brutalization by the conscripts of the last year of service as well as NCOs and officers. ...

30% of Russian army personnel were contract servicemen at the end of 2005.^[8] Planning calls for volunteer servicemen to compose 70% of armed forces by 2010 with the remaining servicemen consisting of conscripts.^[8] As of November 2006, the Armed Forces had more than 60 units manned with contract personnel totaling over 78,000 contract privates and sergeants.^[8] 88 Ministry of Defense units have been designated as permanent readiness units and are expected to become all-volunteer by the end of 2007.^[8] These include most air force, naval, and nuclear arms units, as well as all airborne and naval infantry units, most motorized rifle brigades, and all special forces detachments.^[8] All personnel on ships and submarines will be contract servicemen beginning in 2009.^[8] Women serve in the Russian military, though in far lesser numbers than men. More than 92,000 females serve on active duty with the Russian Armed Forces (2007).^[8] For the foreseeable future, the Armed Forces will be a mixed contract/conscript force.^[8] The need to maintain a mobilization reserve of various classes arises from a requirement to have manning resources capable of ensuring prompt reinforcement of the Russian Armed Forces in case the efforts made by the permanent readiness forces to deter or suppress an armed conflict fail to yield positive results.^[9]

The ranks of the Russian military are also open to non-Russian citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States, of which Russia is the largest member.^[10] Non-Russians enlisting from these states cannot serve in elite or secret units but are in many cases entitled to Russian citizenship after their term of service. The Russian Armed Forces still use the traditional forms of reference of Comrade to help solidify the service personel as part of something larger than themselves.  Member state  Associate member Headquarters Minsk, Belarus Working language Russian Type Commonwealth Membership 11 member states 1 associate member Leaders  -  Executive Secretary Viktor Yanukovych Establishment December 21, 1991 Website http://cis. ...

Expenditure and Arms Procurement

Defence spending is consistently increasing by at least a minimum of one-third year on year, leading to overall defence expenditure almost quadrupling over the past six years, and according to Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, this rate is to be sustained through 2010.^[11] Official government military spending for 2007 was $32.4 billion, though various sources, have estimated Russia’s military expenditures to be considerably higher than the reported amount.^[12][13] Estimating Russian military expenditure is beset with difficulty; the annual IISS Military Balance has underscored the problem numerous times within its section on Russia.^[14]. The IISS Military Balance comments - 'By simple observation..[the military budget] would appear to be lower than is suggested by the size of the armed forces or the structure of the military-industrial complex, and thus neither of the figures is particularly useful for comparative analysis'.^[15] By some estimates, overall Russian defence expenditure is now at the second highest in the world after the USA.^[16] Alexei Leonidovich Kudrin is a Russian politician, and the Russian Minister of Finance. ... The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British think tank based in London. ...

About 70% of the former Soviet Union's defense industries are located in the Russian Federation.^[17] A large number of state-owned defense enterprises are on the brink of collapse as a result of cuts in weapon orders and insufficient funding to shift to production of civilian goods, while at the same time trying to meet payrolls.^{[citation needed]} Many defence firms have been privatized; some have developed significant partnerships with firms in other countries.^{[citation needed]} This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

The recent steps towards modernisation of the Armed Forces has been made possible by Russia's spectacular economic resurgence based on oil and gas revenues as well a strengthening of its own domestic market. Currently, the military is in the middle of a major equipment upgrade, with the government in the process of spending about $200 billion (what equals to about $400 billion in PPP dollars) on development and production of military equipment between 2006-2015.^[18]

Russia is the world's top supplier of weapons, a spot it has held since 2001, accounting for around 30% of worldwide weapons sales.^[19][20]

Nuclear weapons

See also: Russia and weapons of mass destruction Russia possesses one of the two largest stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in the world (the United States possess the other). ...

Russia possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world.^[21] Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces controls its land-based nuclear warheads, while the Navy controls the submarine based missiles and the Air Force the air based warheads. Russia's nuclear warheads are deployed in four areas: The Strategic Rocket Forces of Russia (Russian: Ракетные войска стратегического назначения (РВСН), transliteration: Raketnye voyska strategicheskogo naznacheniya) are a major division of the Russian armed forces that controls Russias land-based ICBMs. ...

• 1 - Land based immobile (silos), like SS-18 Satan.
• 2 - Land-based mobile, like SS-27 Topol M.
• 3 - Submarine based, like SS-N-30 Bulava.
• 4 - Air-based warheads of Russia's Air Forces strategic bomber force

Russian military doctrine has called for the reliance on the country's strategic nuclear forces as the primary deterrent against attack by a major power (such as NATO forces or the People's Republic of China). In keeping with this, the country's nuclear forces received adequate funding throughout the late 1990s. Russia currently, with around 16,000 warheads possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads.^[22] The number of intercontinental ballistic missiles and warheads on active duty has declined over the years, in part in keeping with arms limitation agreements with the U.S. and in part due to insufficient spending on maintenance, but this is balanced by the deployment of new missiles as proof against missile defenses. Russia has developed the new SS-27 Topol-M missiles that are stated to be able to easily penetrate any missile defense on the planet, including the U.S. National Missile Defense. The missile can change course in both air and space. It is projected to be launched from mobile Topol-M units and submarines [1]. Russian nuclear forces are confident that they can carry out a successful retaliation strike if attacked. The R-36 (Russian: ) is a family of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and space launch vehicles designed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. ... The RT-2UTTH Topol-M is the most recent intercontinental ballistic missile to be deployed by Russia, and the first to be developed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. ... The Bulava (Russian: , “the mace”) is a Submarine-launched ballistic missile under development in Russia. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Military doctrine is a level of military planning between national strategy and unit-level tactics, techniques, and procedures. ... This article is about the military alliance. ... A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. ... The RT-2UTTH Topol-M is the most recent intercontinental ballistic missile to be deployed by Russia, and the first to be developed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. ... A payload launch vehicle carrying a prototype exoatmospheric kill vehicle is launched from Meck Island at the Kwajalein Missile Range on December 3, 2001, for an intercept of a ballistic missile target over the central Pacific Ocean. ... For other uses, see Submarine (disambiguation). ...

Because of international awareness of the danger of Russian nuclear technology just might fall into the hands of terrorists or rogue officers who might want to use it to threaten or attack other countries, the United States Department of Defense and other Western countries provided considerable financial assistance to the Russian nuclear forces in early 1990s. Many friendly countries like India gave huge money in lieu for Russian Arms purchase deals which kept Russian Agencies function just like they used to be earlier with high efficiency. This money went in part to finance decommissioning of warheads under international agreements, but also to improve security and personnel training in Russian nuclear facilities. Department of Defense redirects here. ...

Current challenges and problems

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia has discussed rebuilding a viable, cohesive fighting force out of the remaining parts of the former Soviet armed forces. A new Russian military doctrine, promulgated in November 1993, acknowledges the contraction of the old Soviet military into a regional military power without global imperial ambitions. In keeping with its emphasis on the threat of regional conflicts, the doctrine calls for a Russian military that is smaller, lighter, and more mobile, with a higher degree of professionalism and with greater rapid deployment capability. Such a transformation has proven difficult, not least because - even shorn of worldwide ambitions - the sheer scale of Russia's land borders makes even a defensive military posture an immense undertaking.

The challenges of carrying out reforms and modernizing have been magnified by difficult economic conditions in Russia, which have resulted in reduced defence spending. This has led to training cutbacks, wage reductions, and severe shortages of housing for other social amenities for military personnel, with a consequent lowering of morale, cohesion, and fighting effectiveness.

In 2005 Russia's spendings on new military weapons surpassed overseas sales, which were about US$6.5 billion. For 2006, there is about $9 billion budget for military equipment purchases.

The Russian military under Putin

When Putin officially assumed the presidency in 2000, the state of the Russian military remained much the same as it did when the Soviet Union collapsed. Many of the weapons and equipment used by the armed forces are nearly a decade old, but reliable and powerful, such as the AK-74 and the Dragunov Sniper Rifle, which will not need to be replaced soon. Corruption was also a problem, seen among both officers and enlisted men. During the First Chechen War, the Russian military had insufficient funds to purchase more up-to-date military equipment, such as the Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark" attack helicopter. Paratroopers were also unable to adequately train jumping due to a lack of fuel for planes. Putin, realising these shortcomings, characterised the Russian military as "an unwieldy and extravagant military machine." At the time, military and law enforcement expenditures were accounting for more than a third of the country's budget.^[23] Early in his first term, Putin sought to reduce the military size by up to 30%. Putin also sought to improve and better organise the command structure of the 12 individual agencies that maintained their own establishments in 2002. AK74 assault rifle The AK-74 assault rifle is the modernized version of the AK-47 developed in 1974, chambered in a smaller cartridge (5. ... The Dragunov Sniper Rifle (Russian: , abbreviated SVD, GRAU index 6V1), is a semi-automatic rifle designed by Evgeniy Fedorovich Dragunov in the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1963. ... Combatants Russian Federation Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Commanders Pavel Grachev Anatoly Kulikov Konstantin Pulikovsky Anatoliy Romanov Vyacheslav Tikhomirov Gennady Troshev Dzhokhar Dudayev  â€  Aslan Maskhadov Strength (December 11, 1994) Up to 50,000 soldiers and Interior Ministry (MVD) (December 11, 1994) 3,000 to 15,000[1] Casualties Military: At least... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

See also

• Awards and decorations of the Russian Federation
• Volunteer Army
• Conscription in Russia

The award system of the Russian Federation has two distinct and complementary origins. ... The Volunteer Army (Добровольческая армия in Russian, or Dobrovolcheskaya armiya) was a counterrevolutionary army in South Russia during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1920. ... Military service in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other military organisation, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). ...

References

GlobalSecurity. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 206th day of the year (207th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Conflict Studies Research Centre, or CSRC, is a college of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom specialising in potential causes of conflict in a wide area ranging from the Baltics to Central Asia. ... The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in London. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... RIA (Russian Information Agency) Novosti is a Russian press agency based in Moscow. ... is the 136th day of the year (137th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Russian Army
• Russia's Military home page Russia's Military home page in Russian
• Russia's Military Analysis A very comprehensive online database of modern Russian arms and military technologies. Website also has discussion forums, videos and more.
• Russia Military Guide Includes satellite photos of bases.
• Russian Military Forum has 1000s of pictures of Russian army and military bases and intelligence reports. (site is down, domain is out of service)
• - British Conflict Studies Research Centre papers on Russian armed forces
• kamouflage.net Camouflage uniforms used by Russian Federation armed forces