The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (Russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации; MOD) is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces. The president of Russia is the commander-in-chief of the forces and directs the activity of the ministry. The minister of defence exercises day-to-day administrative and operational authority over the forces.[2] 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, 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 (since 14 May 2024).

History

Defence Minister Andrey Belousov with military district commanders
Lobanov-Rostovsky Palace in Saint Petersburg, former Defence Ministry building

The U.S. Library of Congress Country Studies' volume for Russia said in July 1996 that:

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, which is headed by the Chief of the General Staff. U.S. expert William Odom said in 1998 that "the Soviet General Staff without the MoD is conceivable, but the MoD without the General Staff is not."[17] 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 2025

Senior staff in 2025 included:[18]

Minister of Defence
First Deputy Minister(s) of Defence
Deputy Minister(s) of Defence

Structure in 2021

Senior staff in 2021 included:[18]

Minister of Defence
First Deputy Minister(s) of Defence
Deputy Minister(s) of Defence

Organization in 2012

Entities directly subordinated to the Minister of Defence in August 2012 included:[18]

  • 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."[19] It is the successor to the Soviet Armed Forces's Group of Inspectors General, which was dissolved in 1992.[19]

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:[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ RF MOS website www.mil.ru accessed 9 August 2012.
  2. ↑ Федеральный закон от 31 мая 1996 г. № 61-ФЗ «Об обороне» Archived 2018-08-19 at the Wayback Machine See Article 13, §§ 1, 2.
  3. ↑ Library of Congress Country Studies Russia, Command Structure Archived 2017-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Peter Finn, Russian Leader Expands Powers of a Possible Successor Archived 2017-10-18 at the Wayback Machine, Washington Post, 16 February 2007.
  5. ↑ Harriet F. Scott and William Scott, Russian Military Directory 2002, p. 341, citing DS2002-0802.
  6. ↑ "Tax Officials Invade Russia's Defense Ministry". Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  7. ↑ "Putin begins defense ministry purge amid nuclear secrets leak rumor". 14 May 2024.
  8. ↑ "Kremlin denies they are purging military generals as another is arrested | DW News". 23 May 2024.
  9. ↑ "Deputy Russian military chief of staff jailed for bribery in latest arrest of high defense official". 23 May 2024.
  10. ↑ "2 more Russian officials arrested in widening military corruption probe".
  11. ↑ "Russia fires general who lined up troops ahead of deadly HIMARS strike". 24 May 2024.
  12. ↑ "Putin extends defence ministry purge, hands job to a relative". Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  13. ↑ "Putin makes cousin's daughter deputy defence minister".
  14. ↑ "Putin sacks four Russian deputy defence ministers, appoints his niece".
  15. ↑ "Top Russian general fired amid bribery allegations". Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  16. ↑ "Turkish Police Arrest Man Suspected of Organizing Bomb Attack in Moscow".
  17. ↑ Odom, William E. (1998). The Collapse of the Soviet Military. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 27. ISBN 0-300-08271-1.
  18. 1 2 3 RF MOD website www.mil.ru accessed 18 August 2019.
  19. 1 2 Misyura, Vyacheslav (12 February 2018). "Управлению генеральных инспекторов Минобороны России — 60 лет!" (in Russian). Russian Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  20. ↑ H.F. Scott & William F. Scott, Russian Military Directory 2004, pp. 61–82, 97–116.
  21. ↑ State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Defence Archived 2008-04-11 at the Wayback Machine, Russian Ministry of Defence, accessed May 2008.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_(Russia)