How the staffing levels of the Russian Armed Forces have changed. Dossier. About a thousand young men from the Belgorod region will join the ranks of the armed forces in the next three months

Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Russian Armed Forces)- a state military organization of the Russian Federation, designed to repel aggression directed against the Russian Federation - Russia, for the armed defense of the integrity and inviolability of its territory, as well as to carry out tasks in accordance with international treaties of Russia.

Part Russian Armed Forces includes types of armed forces: Ground Forces, Air Force, Navy; individual branches of the military - Aerospace Defense Forces, Airborne Forces and Strategic Missile Forces; central bodies of military command; The rear of the Armed Forces, as well as troops not included in the types and branches of troops (see also MTR of the Russian Federation).

Russian Armed Forces created on May 7, 1992 and at that time numbered 2,880,000 personnel. This is one of the largest armed forces in the world, with more than 1,000,000 personnel. The staffing level is established by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation; as of January 1, 2008, a quota of 2,019,629 personnel was established, including 1,134,800 military personnel. The Russian Armed Forces are distinguished by the presence of the world's largest stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, and a well-developed system of means of delivering them.

Command

Supreme Commander

The Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces is the President of Russia. In the event of aggression against Russia or an immediate threat of aggression, he introduces martial law on the territory of Russia or in its individual localities, in order to create conditions for repelling or preventing it, with immediate notification of this to the Federation Council and the State Duma for approval of the corresponding decree.

To resolve the issue of the possibility of using Russian Armed Forces outside the territory of Russia, a corresponding resolution of the Federation Council is necessary. In peacetime, the head of state exercises general political leadership Armed forces, and in wartime leads the defense of the state and its Armed forces to repel aggression.

The President of Russia also forms and heads the Security Council of the Russian Federation; approves the military doctrine of Russia; appoints and dismisses high command Russian Armed Forces. The President, as Supreme Commander-in-Chief, approves the Russian Military Doctrine, concept and construction plans Armed Forces, mobilization plan Armed Forces, economic mobilization plans, civil defense plan and other acts in the field of military development. The head of state also approves general military regulations, regulations on the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff. The President annually issues decrees on conscription into military service, on the transfer to the reserve of persons of certain ages who have served in Sun, signs international treaties on joint defense and military cooperation.

Ministry of Defence

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Ministry of Defense) is the governing body Russian Armed Forces. The main tasks of the Russian Ministry of Defense include the development and implementation of state policy in the field of defense; legal regulation in the field of defense; organization of application armed forces in accordance with federal constitutional laws, federal laws and international treaties of Russia; maintaining the necessary readiness armed forces; implementation of construction activities armed forces; ensuring social protection of military personnel and civilian personnel armed forces, citizens discharged from military service and members of their families; development and implementation of state policy in the field of international military cooperation. The Ministry carries out its activities directly and through the governing bodies of military districts, other military command and control bodies, territorial bodies, and military commissariats.

The Ministry of Defense is headed by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, who is appointed and dismissed by the President of Russia on the proposal of the Chairman of the Government of Russia. The Minister reports directly to the President of Russia, and on issues referred to by the Constitution of Russia, federal constitutional laws, federal laws and presidential decrees under the jurisdiction of the Russian government, to the Chairman of the Russian Government. The Minister bears personal responsibility for solving problems and implementing the powers entrusted to the Russian Ministry of Defense and armed forces, and carries out its activities on the basis of unity of command. The ministry has a board consisting of the minister, his first deputies and deputies, heads of services of the ministry, commanders-in-chief of services armed forces.

The current Minister of Defense is Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu.

General base

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is the central body of military command and the main body of operational control Armed forces. The General Staff coordinates the activities of the border troops and bodies of the Federal Security Service (FSB), internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), Railway Troops, the federal body for special communications and information, civil defense troops, engineering and technical and road construction military formations, the Foreign Service intelligence (SVR) of Russia, federal state security bodies, the federal body for ensuring mobilization training of government bodies to carry out tasks in the field of defense, construction and development armed forces, as well as their applications. The General Staff consists of main directorates, directorates and other structural units.

The main tasks of the General Staff include the implementation of strategic planning for the use armed forces, other troops, military formations and bodies, taking into account their tasks and the military-administrative division of the country; conducting operational and mobilization training armed forces; translation armed forces on the organization and composition of wartime, the organization of strategic and mobilization deployment armed forces, other troops, military formations and bodies; coordination of activities related to military registration activities in the Russian Federation; organization of intelligence activities for defense and security purposes; planning and organizing communications; topographic and geodetic support armed forces; implementation of activities related to the protection of state secrets; conducting military scientific research.

The current Chief of the General Staff is Army General Valery Gerasimov (since November 9, 2012).

Story

The first republican military department appeared in the RSFSR ( cm.Red Army), later - during the collapse of the USSR (July 14, 1990). However, due to the rejection by the majority of people’s deputies of the RSFSR the idea of ​​independent Sun The department was called not the Ministry of Defense, but the State Committee of the RSFSR for Public Security and Interaction with the Ministry of Defense of the USSR and the KGB of the USSR. After the coup attempt in Vilnius on January 13, 1991, the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, took the initiative to create a republican army, and on January 31, the State Committee for Public Security was transformed into the RSFSR State Committee for Defense and Security, headed by Army General Konstantin Kobets . During 1991, the Committee was repeatedly modified and renamed. From August 19 (the day of the coup attempt in Moscow) to September 9, the Ministry of Defense of the RSFSR temporarily functioned.

At the same time, Yeltsin made an attempt to create a national guard of the RSFSR, and even began accepting volunteers. Until 1995, it was planned to form at least 11 brigades of 3-5 thousand people each, with a total number of no more than 100 thousand. It was planned to deploy National Guard units in 10 regions, including Moscow (three brigades), Leningrad (two brigades) and a number of other important cities and regions. Regulations were prepared on the structure, composition, recruitment methods, and tasks of the National Guard. By the end of September in Moscow, about 15 thousand people managed to enroll in the ranks of the National Guard, most of whom were servicemen of the USSR Armed Forces. In the end, the draft decree “On the Temporary Regulations on the Russian Guard” was put on Yeltsin’s desk, but it was never signed.

After the signing of the Belovezhskaya Accords on December 21, the member states of the newly created CIS signed a protocol on temporarily entrusting the last Minister of Defense of the USSR, Air Marshal Shaposhnikov, with command of the armed forces on their territory, including strategic nuclear forces. On February 14, 1992, he formally became the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the United Armed Forces of the CIS, and the USSR Ministry of Defense was transformed into the Main Command of the Allied Forces of the CIS. On March 16, 1992, by Yeltsin's decree, the operationally subordinate to the Main Command of the Allied Forces, as well as the Ministry of Defense, which is headed by the president himself. On May 7, a decree was signed on the creation armed forces, and Yeltsin assumed the duties of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Army General Grachev became the first Minister of Defense, and he was the first in the Russian Federation to be awarded this title.

Armed forces in the 1990s

Part Armed Forces of the Russian Federation included departments, associations, formations, military units, institutions, military educational institutions, enterprises and organizations of the Armed Forces of the USSR, located on the territory of Russia at the time of May 1992, as well as troops (forces) under Russian jurisdiction in the territory of the Transcaucasian Military District, Western , Northern and Northwestern Groups of Forces, Black Sea Fleet, Baltic Fleet, Caspian Flotilla, 14th Guards Army, formations, military units, institutions, enterprises and organizations in Mongolia, Cuba and some other countries with a total number of 2.88 million people .

As part of the reform armed forces The concept of Mobile Forces was developed at the General Staff. The mobile forces were to be 5 separate motorized rifle brigades, staffed according to wartime levels (95-100%) with a single staff and weapons. Thus, it was planned to get rid of the cumbersome mobilization mechanism, and in the future to transfer Sun entirely on a contract basis. However, by the end of 1993, only three such brigades were formed: the 74th, 131st and 136th, and it was not possible either to reduce the brigades to a single staff (even battalions within the same brigade differed in staff), nor to staff them according to wartime states. The understaffing of the units was so significant that at the beginning of the First Chechen War (1994-1996), Grachev asked Boris Yeltsin to sanction limited mobilization, but was refused, and the United Group of Forces in Chechnya had to be formed from units from all military districts. The first Chechen war also revealed serious shortcomings in troop management.

After Chechnya, Igor Rodionov was appointed as the new Minister of Defense, and in 1997, Igor Sergeev. A new attempt was made to create fully equipped units with a single staff. As a result, by 1998 in Russian Armed Forces 4 categories of parts and connections appeared:

• constant readiness (staffing - 95-100% of the wartime staff);
• reduced staff (staffing - up to 70%);
• storage bases for weapons and military equipment (staffing level - 5-10%);
• cropped (staffing - 5-10%).

However, the translation Sun the contract method of recruitment was not possible due to insufficient funding, while this issue became painful in Russian society against the backdrop of losses in the First Chechen War. At the same time, it was possible to only slightly increase the share of “contract workers” in Armed Forces. By this time the number Sun was reduced by more than half - to 1,212,000 people.

In the Second Chechen War (1999-2006), the United Group of Forces was formed from units of permanent readiness of the ground forces, as well as the Airborne Forces. At the same time, only one tactical battalion group was allocated from these units (only one motorized rifle brigade from the Siberian Military District fought in its entirety) - this was done in order to quickly compensate for losses in the war at the expense of personnel who remained in the places of permanent deployment of their parts. Since the end of 1999, the share of “contract soldiers” in Chechnya began to grow, reaching 45% in 2003.

Armed forces in the 2000s

In 2001, the Ministry of Defense was headed by Sergei Ivanov. After the end of the active phase of hostilities in Chechnya, it was decided to return to the “Grachevsky” plans for the transfer to contract manning of troops: permanent readiness units were to be transferred to a contract basis, and the remaining units and formations, BHVT, CBR and institutions were to be left on an urgent basis. In 2003, the corresponding Federal Target Program began. The first unit transferred to a “contract” within its framework was the airborne regiment as part of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division, and since 2005 other units and formations of permanent readiness began to be transferred to a contract basis. However, this program was also not successful due to poor pay, conditions of service and the lack of social infrastructure in the places where contract soldiers served.

In 2005, work also began on optimizing the control system Armed Forces. According to the plan of the Chief of the General Staff Yuri Baluevsky, it was planned to create three regional commands, to which units of all types and branches of the military would be subordinate. On the basis of the Moscow Military District, Leningrad Military District, the Baltic and Northern Fleets, as well as the former Moscow Military District of the Air Force and Air Defense, the Western Regional Command was to be created; based on part of the Purvo, North Caucasus Military District and the Caspian Flotilla - Yuzhnoye; based on part of the PurVO, Siberian Military District, Far Eastern Military District and the Pacific Fleet - Eastern. All units of central subordination in the regions were to be reassigned to regional commands. At the same time, it was planned to abolish the Main Commands of the branches and branches of the military. The implementation of these plans was, however, postponed to 2010-2015 due to failures in the program for transferring troops to a contract basis, for which the bulk of the financial resources were urgently transferred.

However, under Serdyukov, who replaced Ivanov in 2007, the idea of ​​creating regional commands was quickly returned to. It was decided to start from the East. The staff for the command was developed and the location of deployment was determined - Ulan-Ude. In January 2008, the Eastern Regional Command was created, but at the joint command and control command of the SibVO and Far Eastern Military District units in March-April, it showed its ineffectiveness, and was disbanded in May.

In 2006, the Russian State Arms Development Program for 2007-2015 was launched.

Armed forces after the Five Day War

Participation in the armed conflict in South Ossetia and its widespread media coverage revealed the main shortcomings armed forces: complex control system and low mobility. Troop control during combat operations was carried out “along the chain” of the General Staff - Headquarters of the North Caucasus Military District - Headquarters of the 58th Army, and only then orders and directives reached the units directly. The low ability to maneuver forces over long distances was explained by the cumbersome organizational structure of units and formations: only airborne units were able to be transferred to the region by air. Already in September-October 2008, the transition was announced armed forces to a “new look” and a new radical military reform. New reform armed forces designed to increase their mobility and combat effectiveness, coordination of actions of different types and types Sun.

During the military reform, the military-administrative structure of the Armed Forces was completely reorganized. Instead of six military districts, four were formed, while all formations, formations and units of the Air Force, Navy and Airborne Forces were reassigned to the headquarters of the districts. The control system of the Ground Forces was simplified by eliminating the divisional level. Organizational changes in the troops were accompanied by a sharp increase in the growth rate of military spending, which increased from less than 1 trillion rubles in 2008 to 2.15 trillion rubles in 2013. This, as well as a number of other measures, made it possible to speed up the rearmament of troops, significantly increase the intensity of combat training, and increase the pay of military personnel.

Structure of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

Armed forces consist of three branches of the Armed Forces, three branches of the armed forces, the Logistics of the Armed Forces, the Housing and Accommodation Service of the Ministry of Defense and troops not included in the branches of the Armed Forces. Geographically, the Armed Forces are divided between 4 military districts:

• (Blue) Western Military District - headquarters in St. Petersburg;
• (Brown) Southern Military District - headquarters in Rostov-on-Don;
• (Green) Central Military District - headquarters in Yekaterinburg;
• (Yellow) Eastern Military District - headquarters in Khabarovsk.

Types of armed forces

Ground troops

Ground Forces, SV- the most numerous species in terms of combat strength armed forces. Ground forces are intended to conduct an offensive in order to defeat the enemy group, seize and hold its territories, regions and borders, deliver fire strikes to great depths, and repel enemy incursions and large airborne assaults. The ground forces of the Russian Federation, in turn, include the following types of troops:

• Motorized rifle troops, MSV- the largest branch of the ground forces, it is a mobile infantry equipped with infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers. They consist of motorized rifle formations, units and subunits, which include motorized rifle, artillery, tank and other units and subunits.
• Tank troops, TV- the main striking force of the ground forces, maneuverable, highly mobile and resistant to the effects of nuclear weapons, troops designed to carry out deep breakthroughs and develop operational success, are able to immediately overcome water obstacles for fording and on crossing facilities. Tank troops consist of tank, motorized rifle (mechanized, motorized infantry), missile, artillery and other units and units.
• Missile forces and artillery, missile defense and aviation designed for fire and nuclear destruction of the enemy. They are armed with cannon and rocket artillery. They consist of formations of units and units of howitzer, cannon, rocket, anti-tank artillery, mortars, as well as artillery reconnaissance, control and support.
• Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, Air Defense Forces- a branch of ground forces designed to protect ground forces from enemy air attack weapons, to defeat them, as well as to prohibit enemy aerial reconnaissance. The SV air defense is armed with mobile, towed and man-portable anti-aircraft missile and anti-aircraft gun systems.
• Special troops and services- a set of troops and services of the ground forces intended to carry out highly specialized operations to support combat and everyday activities armed forces. Special forces consist of radiation, chemical and biological defense troops (RCH protection troops), engineering troops, communications troops, electronic warfare troops, railway, automobile troops, etc.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces is Colonel General Vladimir Chirkin, the Chief of the Main Staff is Lieutenant General Sergei Istrakov.

Air Force

Air Force, Air Force- a branch of the Armed Forces designed to conduct reconnaissance of enemy groups, ensure the conquest of air supremacy (deterrence), protection from air strikes of important military-economic regions and objects of the country and groupings of troops, warning of air attack, destruction of objects that form the basis of the military and military-economic potential of the enemy, air support of ground forces and naval forces, airborne landings, transportation of troops and materiel by air. The Russian Air Force includes:

• Long-range aviation- the main strike weapon of the Air Force, designed to destroy (including nuclear) groups of troops, aviation, and naval forces of the enemy and destroy its important military, military-industrial, energy facilities, communications centers in strategic and operational depth. It can also be used for aerial reconnaissance and mining from the air.
• Frontline aviation- the main strike force of the Air Force, solves problems in combined arms, joint and independent operations, designed to destroy enemy troops and targets in operational depth in the air, on land and at sea. Can be used for aerial reconnaissance and mining from the air.
• Army aviation designed for air support of the Ground Forces by destroying enemy ground armored mobile targets at the front line and in tactical depth, as well as to ensure combined arms combat and increase the mobility of troops. Army aviation units and units perform fire, airborne transport, reconnaissance and special combat missions.
• Military transport aviation- one of the types of military aviation that is part of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It provides air transportation of troops, military equipment and cargo, as well as airborne assault forces. Performs sudden tasks in peacetime in the event of both natural and man-made emergencies and conflict situations in a particular region that pose a threat to the security of the state. The main purpose of military transport aviation is to ensure the strategic mobility of the Russian Armed Forces, and in peacetime, to ensure the livelihoods of troops in various regions.
• Special aviation designed to solve a wide range of tasks: long-range radar detection and control, electronic warfare, reconnaissance and target designation, control and communications, refueling aircraft in the air, conducting radiation, chemical and engineering reconnaissance, evacuation of the wounded and sick, search and rescue of flight crews and etc.
• Anti-aircraft missile forces, air defense missile forces designed to protect important administrative and economic regions and facilities of Russia from air attack.
• Radio technical troops, RTV are intended for conducting radar reconnaissance, issuing information for radar support of units of anti-aircraft missile forces and aviation, as well as for monitoring the use of airspace.

Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force - Lieutenant General Viktor Bondarev

Navy

Navy- a type of armed forces designed to conduct search and rescue operations, protect the economic interests of Russia, and conduct combat operations in sea and ocean theaters of military operations. The Navy is capable of delivering conventional and nuclear strikes against enemy sea and coastal forces, disrupting its sea communications, landing amphibious assault forces, etc. The Russian Navy consists of four fleets: the Baltic, Northern, Pacific and Black Sea and Caspian Flotilla. The Navy includes:

• Submarine forces- the main striking force of the fleet. Submarine forces are capable of secretly entering the ocean, approaching the enemy and delivering a sudden and powerful strike against him using conventional and nuclear means. The submarine forces include multipurpose/torpedo ships and guided missile cruisers.
• Surface forces provide covert access to the ocean and the deployment of submarine forces and their return. Surface forces are capable of transporting and covering landings, laying and removing minefields, disrupting enemy communications and protecting their own.
• Naval aviation- aviation component of the Navy. There are strategic, tactical, carrier-based and coastal aviation. Naval aviation is designed to carry out bombing and missile attacks on enemy ships and coastal forces, conduct radar reconnaissance, search for submarines and destroy them.
• Coastal troops designed to protect naval bases and fleet bases, ports, important areas of the coast, islands and straits from attacks by enemy ships and amphibious assault forces. The basis of their weapons are coastal missile systems and artillery, anti-aircraft missile systems, mine and torpedo weapons, as well as special coastal defense ships. To ensure defense by troops on the coast, coastal fortifications are created.
• Formations and special forces units of the Navy- formations, units and subunits of the Navy, designed to conduct special events on the territory of enemy naval bases and in coastal areas, conducting reconnaissance.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy is Admiral Viktor Chirkov, the Chief of the Main Staff of the Navy is Admiral Alexander Tatarinov.

Independent branches of the military

Aerospace Defense Forces

Aerospace Defense Forces- an independent branch of the military designed to convey warning information about a missile attack, Moscow's missile defense, the creation, deployment, maintenance and management of an orbital constellation of military, dual, socio-economic and scientific spacecraft. The complexes and systems of the Space Forces solve problems of a national strategic scale not only in the interests of the Armed Forces and other law enforcement agencies, but also of most ministries and departments, the economy, and the social sphere. The structure of the Space Forces includes:

• The first state test cosmodrome "Plesetsk" (until 2007, the Second state test cosmodrome "Svobodny" also functioned, until 2008 - the Fifth state test cosmodrome "Baikonur", which later became only a civilian cosmodrome)
• Launch of military spacecraft
• Launch of dual-use spacecraft
• Main Test Space Center named after G. S. Titov
• Department for depositing cash settlement services
• Military educational institutions and support units (The main educational institution is the A.F. Mozhaisky Military Space Academy)

The Commander of the Space Forces is Lieutenant General Oleg Ostapenko, the Chief of the Main Staff is Major General Vladimir Derkach. On December 1, 2011, a new branch of the military took over combat duty - the Aerospace Defense Forces (VVKO).

Strategic Missile Forces

Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN)- type of army Armed Forces, the main component of Russia's strategic nuclear forces. The Strategic Missile Forces are designed for nuclear deterrence of possible aggression and destruction as part of strategic nuclear forces or independently by massive, group or single nuclear missile strikes of strategic targets located in one or several strategic aerospace directions and forming the basis of the enemy’s military and military-economic potential. The Strategic Missile Forces are armed with ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads.

• three missile armies (headquarters in the cities of Vladimir, Orenburg, Omsk)
• 4th State Central Interspecific Test Site Kapustin Yar (which also includes the former 10th Test Site Sary-Shagan in Kazakhstan)
• 4th Central Research Institute (Yubileiny, Moscow Region)
• educational institutions (Peter the Great Military Academy in Moscow, military institute in the city of Serpukhov)
• arsenals and central repair plants, storage bases for weapons and military equipment

The commander of the Strategic Missile Forces is Colonel General Sergei Viktorovich Karakaev.

Airborne troops

Airborne troops (VDV)- an independent branch of the military, which includes airborne formations: airborne and air assault divisions and brigades, as well as individual units. Airborne forces are designed for operational landing and combat operations behind enemy lines.

The Airborne Forces have 4 divisions: 7th (Novorossiysk), 76th (Pskov), 98th (Ivanovo and Kostroma), 106th (Tula), Training Center (Omsk), Higher Ryazan School, 38th communications regiment, 45th reconnaissance regiment, 31st brigade (Ulyanovsk). In addition, in military districts (subordinate to the district or army) there are airborne (or air assault) brigades, which administratively belong to the Airborne Forces, but are operationally subordinate to the military commanders.

The commander of the Airborne Forces is Colonel General Vladimir Shamanov.

Weapons and military equipment

Traditionally, starting from the middle of the 20th century, foreign military equipment and weapons were almost completely absent from the USSR Armed Forces. A rare exception was the production of the socialist countries 152-mm self-propelled gun vz.77). In the USSR, a completely self-sufficient military production was created, which was capable of producing for the needs armed forces any weapons and equipment. During the Cold War, its gradual accumulation took place, and by 1990, the volume of weapons in the USSR Armed Forces had reached unprecedented levels: the ground forces alone had about 63 thousand tanks, 86 thousand infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 42 thousand artillery barrels. A significant portion of these reserves went to Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and other republics.

Currently, the ground forces are armed with T-64, T-72, T-80, T-90 tanks; infantry fighting vehicles BMP-1, BMP-2, BMP-3; airborne combat vehicles BMD-1, BMD-2, BMD-3, BMD-4M; armored personnel carriers BTR-70, BTR-80; armored vehicles GAZ-2975 "Tiger", Italian Iveco LMV; self-propelled and towed cannon artillery; multiple launch rocket systems BM-21, 9K57, 9K58, TOS-1; tactical missile systems Tochka and Iskander; air defense systems Buk, Tor, Pantsir-S1, S-300, S-400.

The Air Force is armed with MiG-29, MiG-31, Su-27, Su-30, Su-35 fighters; front-line bombers Su-24 and Su-34; Su-25 attack aircraft; long-range and strategic missile-carrying bombers Tu-22M3, Tu-95, Tu-160. The An-22, An-70, An-72, An-124, and Il-76 aircraft are used in military transport aviation. Special aircraft are used: the Il-78 air tanker, the Il-80 and Il-96-300PU air command posts, and the A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft. The Air Force also has combat helicopters Mi-8, Mi-24 of various modifications, Mi-35M, Mi-28N, Ka-50, Ka-52; as well as S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems. Multirole fighters Su-35S and T-50 (factory index) are being prepared for adoption.

The Navy has one aircraft-carrying cruiser of Project 1143.5, missile cruisers of Project 1144 and Project 1164, destroyers-large anti-submarine ships of Project 1155, Project 956, corvettes of Project 20380, Project 1124, sea and base minesweepers, landing ships of Project 775. The submarine force includes multi-purpose torpedo ships of Project 971, Project 945, Project 671, Project 877; missile submarines of Project 949, strategic missile cruisers of Projects 667BDRM, 667BDR, 941, as well as SSBNs of Project 955.

Nuclear weapon

Russia has the world's largest stockpile of nuclear weapons and the second largest group of strategic nuclear weapons carriers after the United States. By the beginning of 2011, the strategic nuclear forces included 611 “deployed” strategic delivery vehicles capable of carrying 2,679 nuclear warheads. In 2009, the arsenals had about 16 thousand warheads in long-term storage. Deployed strategic nuclear forces are distributed in the so-called nuclear triad: intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and strategic bombers are used to deliver them. The first element of the triad is concentrated in the Strategic Missile Forces, where the R-36M, UR-100N, RT-2PM, RT-2PM2 and RS-24 missile systems are in service. Naval strategic forces are represented by the R-29R, R-29RM, R-29RMU2 missiles, the carriers of which are strategic missile submarines of projects 667BDR Kalmar and 667BDRM Dolphin. The R-30 missile and the Project 955 Borei SSBN were put into service. Strategic aviation is represented by Tu-95MS and Tu-160 aircraft armed with X-55 cruise missiles.

Non-strategic nuclear forces are represented by tactical missiles, artillery shells, guided and free-falling bombs, torpedoes, and depth charges.

Financing and provision

Financing armed forces carried out from the federal budget of Russia under the expenditure item “National Defense”.

Russia's first military budget in 1992 was 715 trillion non-denominated rubles, which was equal to 21.5% of total expenditures. This was the second largest item of expenditure in the republican budget, second only to financing the national economy (803.89 trillion rubles). In 1993, only 3115.508 billion non-denominated rubles were allocated for national defense (3.1 billion in nominal terms at current prices), which amounted to 17.70% of total expenditures. In 1994, 40.67 trillion rubles were allocated (28.14% of total expenses), in 1995 - 48.58 trillion (19.57% of total expenses), in 1996 - 80.19 trillion (18.40 % of total expenses), in 1997 - 104.31 trillion (19.69% of total expenses), in 1998 - 81.77 billion denominated rubles (16.39% of total expenses).

As part of the allocations under Section 02 “National Defense”, which finances most of the expenses of the Russian Ministry of Defense in 2013, budgetary funds are provided for resolving key issues in the activities of the Armed Forces, including further re-equipment with new types of weapons, military and special equipment, social protection and provision of housing for military personnel, solving other problems. The bill provides for expenses under Section 02 “National Defense” for 2013 in the amount of 2,141.2 billion rubles and exceeds the volumes of 2012 by 276.35 billion rubles or 14.8% in nominal terms. Expenditures on national defense in 2014 and 2015 are provided in the amount of 2,501.4 billion rubles and 3,078.0 billion rubles, respectively. The increase in budget allocations compared to the previous year is envisaged in the amount of 360.2 billion rubles (17.6%) and 576.6 billion rubles (23.1%). In accordance with the bill, in the planned period the increase in the share of expenditures on national defense in total federal budget expenditures will be 16.0% in 2013 (14.5% in 2012), 17.6% in 2014 and 17.6% in 2015 - 19.7%. The share of planned expenditures on national defense in relation to GDP in 2013 will be 3.2%, in 2014 - 3.4% and in 2015 - 3.7%, which is higher than the parameters of 2012 (3.0%) .

Military service

Military service in Russian Armed Forces provided both by contract and by conscription. The minimum age of a military personnel is 18 years (for cadets of military educational institutions it may be lower at the time of enrollment), the maximum age is 65 years.

Acquisition

Officers of the army, air force and navy serve only under a contract. The officer corps is trained mainly in higher military educational institutions, upon completion of which cadets are awarded the military rank of lieutenant. The first contract with cadets - for the entire period of training and for 5 years of military service - is concluded, as a rule, in the second year of training. Citizens in the reserves, including those who have received the rank of “lieutenant” and those assigned to the reserves after training at military departments (faculties of military training, cycles, military training centers) at civilian universities

Private and junior command personnel are recruited both by conscription and by contract. All male citizens of the Russian Federation aged 18 to 27 are subject to conscription. The term of conscription service is one calendar year. Recruitment campaigns are carried out twice a year: spring - from April 1 to July 15, autumn - from October 1 to December 31. After 6 months of service, any serviceman can submit a report on the conclusion of the first contract with him - for 3 years. The age limit for concluding the first contract is 40 years.

The vast majority of military personnel are men, in addition, about 50 thousand women serve in the military: 3 thousand in officer positions (including 28 colonels), 11 thousand warrant officers and about 35 thousand in private and sergeant positions. At the same time, 1.5% of female officers (~45 people) serve in primary command positions in the troops, the rest - in staff positions.

A distinction is made between the current mobilization reserve (the number of those subject to conscription in the current year), the organized mobilization reserve (the number of those who previously served in the Armed Forces and are enrolled in the reserve) and the potential mobilization reserve (the number of people who can be drafted into the troops (forces) in the event of mobilization). In 2009, the potential mobilization reserve amounted to 31 million people (for comparison: in the USA - 56 million people, in China - 208 million people). In 2010, the organized mobilized reserve (reserve) amounted to 20 million people. According to some domestic demographers, the number of 18-year-olds (the current mobilization reserve) will be reduced by 4 times by 2050 and will amount to 328 thousand people. Making a calculation based on the data in this article, Russia’s potential mobilization reserve in 2050 will be 14 million people, which is 55% less than the 2009 level.

Number of members

In 2011, the number of personnel Russian Armed Forces was about 1 million people. The army of millions was the result of a gradual multi-year reduction from the 2880 thousand numbered in the armed forces in 1992 (−65.3%). By 2008, almost half of the personnel were officers, warrant officers and midshipmen. During the military reform of 2008, the positions of warrant officers and midshipmen were reduced, and about 170 thousand officer positions were also eliminated, whereby the share of officers in the states was about 15%[ source not specified 562 days], however, later, by presidential decree, the established number of officers was increased to 220 thousand people.

In staff numbers Sun includes private and junior command personnel (sergeants and foremen) and officers serving in military units and central, district and local military authorities in military positions provided for by the staff of certain units, in commandant's offices, military commissariats, military missions abroad, as well as cadets of higher military educational institutions of the Ministry of Defense and military training centers. Behind the staff are military personnel transferred to the disposal of commanders and superiors due to the temporary absence of vacant positions or the impossibility of dismissing a serviceman.

Monetary allowance

The monetary allowance of military personnel is regulated by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation of November 7, 2011 N 306-FZ “On the monetary allowance of military personnel and the provision of individual payments to them.” The amounts of salaries for military positions and salaries for military ranks are established by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 5, 2011 No. 992 “On the establishment of salaries for military personnel performing military service under a contract.”

The monetary allowance of military personnel consists of salaries (salary for military position and salary for military rank), incentives and compensation (additional) payments. Additional payments include:

• for long service
• for excellent qualifications
• for work with information constituting state secrets
• for special conditions of military service
• for performing tasks directly related to the risk to life and health in peacetime
• for special achievements in service

In addition to six monthly additional payments, annual bonuses are provided for the conscientious and effective performance of official duties; the established coefficient for the salary of military personnel serving in areas with unfavorable climatic or environmental conditions, outside the territory of Russia, and so on.

Military training

In 2010, more than 2 thousand events were held with practical actions of formations and military units. This is 30% more than in 2009.

The largest of them was the operational-strategic exercise Vostok-2010. Up to 20 thousand military personnel, 4 thousand units of military equipment, up to 70 aircraft and 30 ships took part in it.

In 2011, it is planned to hold about 3 thousand practical events. The most important of them is the operational-strategic exercise “Center-2011”.

The most important event in the Armed Forces in 2012 and the end of the summer training period was the strategic command and staff exercise “Caucasus-2012”.

Meals for military personnel

Today the diet of military personnel Russian Armed Forces is organized according to the principle of constructing food rations and is built “on a system of natural rationing, the structural basis of which is a physiologically based set of products for the relevant contingents of military personnel, adequate to their energy costs and professional activities.” According to the chief of logistics of the Russian armed forces, Vladimir Isakov, “...today the diet of the Russian soldier and sailor has more meat, fish, eggs, butter, sausages and cheeses. For example, the daily meat allowance for each serviceman according to the general military ration has increased by 50 g and is now 250 g. Coffee appeared for the first time, and the norms for issuing juices (up to 100 g), milk and butter were also increased...”

By decision of the Russian Minister of Defense, 2008 was declared the year of improving nutrition for personnel of the Russian Armed Forces.

The role of the armed forces in politics and society

According to the Federal Law “On Defense” armed forces form the basis of the state's defense and are the main element of ensuring its security. Armed forces in Russia they are not an independent political entity, do not take part in the struggle for power and the formation of state policy. It is noted that a distinctive feature of the Russian system of government is the determining role of the President in the relationship between government and armed forces, the order of which actually outputs Sun from the report and control of both the legislative and executive powers, with the formal presence of parliamentary oversight. In the modern history of Russia there have been cases when armed forces directly intervened in the political process and played a key role in it: during the attempted coup in 1991 and during the constitutional crisis of 1993. Among the most famous political and government figures in Russia in the past, active military personnel were V.V. Putin, former governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Alexander Lebed, former Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Siberian Federal District Anatoly Kvashnin, Governor of the Moscow Region Boris Gromov and many others. Vladimir Shamanov, who headed the Ulyanovsk region in 2000-2004, continued his military service after resigning as governor.

Armed forces are one of the largest objects of budget financing. In 2011, about 1.5 trillion rubles were allocated for national defense purposes, which amounted to more than 14% of all budget expenditures. For comparison, this is three times more spending on education, four times more on healthcare, 7.5 times more on housing and communal services, or more than 100 times more on environmental protection. At the same time, military personnel and civil servants Armed Forces, defense production workers, and employees of military scientific organizations make up a significant proportion of the economically active population of Russia.

Russian military installations abroad

Currently operating

• Russian military facilities in the CIS
• In the city of Tartus in Syria there is a Russian logistics center.
• Military bases on the territory of partially recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Planned to open

• According to some Russian media, in a few years Russia will have bases for its warships on the island of Socotra (Yemen) and Tripoli (Libya) (due to the change of power in these states, the plans will most likely not be implemented).

Closed

• In 2001, the Russian government decided to close military bases in Cam Ranh (Vietnam) and Lourdes (Cuba), caused by changes in the geopolitical situation in the world.
• In 2007, the Georgian government decided to close Russian military bases on the territory of its country.

Problems

In 2011, 51 conscript soldiers, 29 contract soldiers, 25 warrant officers and 14 officers committed suicide (for comparison, in the US Army in 2010, 156 military personnel committed suicide, in 2011 - 165 military personnel and in 2012 - 177 military personnel). The most suicidal year for the Russian Armed Forces was 2008, when 292 people in the army and 213 in the navy committed suicide.

There is a direct correlation between suicide and loss of social status - what is called the “King Lear complex.” Thus, a high rate of suicide among retired officers, young soldiers, people taken into custody, and recent retirees

Corruption

Employees of the Military Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia are conducting pre-investigation checks into the activities of not only the central office of Slavyanka, but also its regional divisions. Most of these checks develop into investigations into the theft of budget funds. So, the other day, military investigators near Moscow opened a criminal case into the theft of about 40,000,000 rubles received by the Solnechnogorsk branch of Slavyanka OJSC. This money was supposed to be used to repair the buildings of the Ministry of Defense, but it turned out to be stolen and “cashed out.”

Problems of implementing freedom of conscience

The establishment of an institute of military chaplains may be considered a violation of freedom of conscience and religion.

Comments:

What is military service? For some citizens, military duty is a matter of honor, an opportunity to maintain a family tradition, to defend the Motherland with arms in hand; for others, it is a duty imposed by the state on the male population of the country; for others, it is time wasted. Military service with the beginning of perestroika, the era of glasnost and democracy ceased to be prestigious. And the point is not even that patriotic values ​​have begun to play a lesser role in the life of society. The whole point is that this school turned out to be almost universally infected with the phenomenon of hazing. And the recruits who came to serve in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were forced not to study the art of war, mastering the necessary skills, but to solve the most important question for themselves: how to survive in the army? Recruitment campaigns have turned into an all-out pursuit of conscripts. Spring is still perceived by young people of military age and their parents on a par with a natural disaster.

On the positive side of the issue

Over the past years, the political and socio-economic situation in Russia has changed several times. Today the state is doing everything possible to ensure that service in the ranks of the Russian Army becomes in demand among young people. Words about honor and duty sound beautiful, but most young people are pragmatic, and therefore it is quite natural that they are, first of all, interested in a list of the advantages of serving in the army, and not just discussions about spiritual and physical maturation in it. As numerous surveys show, for many conscripts the issues of successful employment after fulfilling their duty to the Motherland and prospects for career growth are pressing.

In 2013, Russian President V.V. Putin signed a Decree that largely changed the attitude of young people to military service. All who have completed this type of service are given preference when occupying government positions.

Demobilized conscripts are given advantages when entering economic and management higher education institutions. For those who did not serve in the army without legal grounds, the path to civilian service is closed. By law, they do not have the right to hold unelected state and municipal positions. The state also provides benefits for parents of conscripts, which not everyone knows about. This primarily concerns social benefits. The wife of a conscript soldier also has the right to receive a one-time social benefit if she is expecting a child and her pregnancy is 180 days or more. In order to receive a payment, you must contact the social security department at your place of residence. A child of a citizen who is serving in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation has the right to receive state support until he turns three years old or his father’s service in the army ends.

If it is time for the child to attend kindergarten, he has the right to priority enrollment in a preschool institution.

Parents of conscripts have the right to preferential payment for utilities. To resolve the issue, you need to contact the housing and communal services or management company, providing documents that your son is in military service. The category of documents required for this includes:

• a certificate from the military unit where the citizen serves;
• a certificate from the branch of the military commissariat that called him up for service.

However, when calculating the amounts for payment of housing and communal services, the following point must be taken into account: if the parents of a conscript live in an apartment building and they have individual metering devices installed (meters for electricity, light, water), they will pay for “utilities” at a reduced price. If there are no individual meters, there will be no preferential payment. Human rights activists consider this practice illegal, but this rule still remains in force.

And another important nuance: parents of conscripts pay payments for general household services on the same basis as all other citizens, since this category of payments does not have benefits.

If payment for utilities is made based on the number of people living in the apartment, based on the certificate, the calculation is carried out without taking into account the conscript. In order for payment to be calculated taking into account the benefits, the parents of the new recruit must submit a corresponding application to the housing and communal services or management company. Experts advise filling out the application in two copies: keeping one of them, which indicates the date of registration of the incoming document, as well as a copy of the certificate from the military registration and enlistment office or military unit, in case they are “lost” by the public utilities. This rule is recommended to be observed by the relatives of the conscript who submits documents to the USZN. If rights are violated, bureaucratic red tape begins; you must immediately contact the prosecutorial authorities or the court.

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About the negative realities of life

The best option is military service, when the young man graduated from a university where there is a military department, as a result of which he has a military rank. The hardest thing to carry out military service is for privates who are not psychologically prepared for military life.

Sociologists say: a person’s adaptation to a new social environment lasts from six months to several years, but those government agencies that recruit into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation do not take such subtle matters into account. Commanders of military units do not think about this issue either.

All attempts to revive DOSAAF in Russia, despite legislative support, still remain at the level of good intentions. The reason for this is banal: to conduct classes and training with young people who will be sent to the army, an appropriate material base is needed, which does not exist. Children who attend military-historical and military-sports clubs at their place of residence, which successfully operate in various regions of Russia, find themselves in a more advantageous position compared to their peers. Such conscripts are least likely to have questions about how to serve, especially since in the clubs they will acquire skills in using pneumatic weapons, learn hand-to-hand combat techniques and, as a result, have fairly high-quality physical and moral preparation for the “school of courage.”

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A simple and complex “school of courage”

How can those who are not ready to bear the rigors of military service survive in the army? Discipline can be instilled in a young person even when childhood is behind him. But if parents continue to perceive the army as a place where an undisciplined son will be betrayed, nothing good will come of it. Another line of behavior is no less dangerous when the conscript is told: The armed forces are a breeding ground for hazing. Instead of discussing in advance with your son the tactics of behavior in that situation if he is faced with hazing. First of all, care must be taken that the conscript:

• knew about his rights and responsibilities as a military member;
• understood that the Criminal Code of Russia provides for criminal liability for hazing;
• had information about contact numbers and addresses where to contact if faced with hazing.
• I knew by heart the contacts of the local branch of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers and the regional military prosecutor's office.

How is service in the Russian army carried out, is there hazing? What do they do in the army? What a conscript needs to know - legal advice.

Rumors, stories, publications in the press, high-profile scandals - all this creates a motley picture of how service in the Russian army takes place. In the minds of some, service in the ranks of the Russian army is a “school of life”; in the minds of others, it is the fear of physical pain, a situation of complete powerlessness and subordination to the will of sergeants and officers. Let's figure out how military service works in modern Russia: what are the advantages of serving in the army, what does a conscript need to take to the army and to the assembly point, what does serving in the army provide.

Boys are taught from childhood that when they reach adulthood, they will become soldiers. The initial image of a soldier-defender of the Motherland does not evoke negativity in most children, and becoming a soldier does not seem scary to most of them. Only later, during adolescence and youth, a negative image of army service begins to form. By the time the time comes for the first time to appear for a medical examination at the military registration and enlistment office and receive a conscription certificate, the conscript no longer wonders how long he will serve in the army, because he knows that for conscripted military personnel the period of service is 12 months and is calculated from the date of conferment of military service rank of private. At the same time, the conscript begins to take an active interest in how military service is going, living conditions in the army, orders and traditions prevailing in the army environment.

As military service gets closer and closer, stories about it from friends who have served occupy more and more of the conscript’s attention and make him think seriously about what the army is, what the conscript needs to know and whether he has enough strength to break away from his usual family life for a year. For some, this is a difficult life test, but for others, long-term service in the Russian army is not scary - over time, they enter into a contract and army life becomes a natural way of life for them.

In order for the memories of military service to remain good, an appropriate psychological attitude and good physical preparation are necessary.

The point is not so much that military service involves high physical activity, but rather that it involves some violence against the individual and a mandatory regime:
performing physical exercises at any time of the year, regardless of the weather;
minimum of household amenities;
changing sleep and rest patterns;
change of climate and time zone;
transition to fairly monotonous food.

There is a simple answer to the question of how to prepare for military service - learn to be as independent and collected as possible before serving, gain maximum self-care skills, try to get your health and physical fitness in order. All this will help you go through the adaptation period faster and easier.

It has long been noted that young men accustomed to physical labor from childhood (rural residents, representatives of blue-collar professions) adapt more easily to military service. The adaptation process takes a slightly longer time for conscripts who are physically weak. Service in the army after higher education is especially difficult due to the difference in age and sometimes the prejudiced attitude of less educated colleagues towards a conscript with a “tower”.

Read also: Military conscription service in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation

If desired, you can also obtain a military specialty (MUS). VUS training is especially popular among conscripts who want to obtain a driver’s license and subsequently serve in the army as a driver. Young men who have completed training in driver specialties and passed exams by military examination commissions receive a certificate, which is the basis for passing qualifying exams at the local traffic police and obtaining a driver's license.

The initial registration of conscripts for military service is carried out from January 1 to March 31 in the year they reach the age of 17 years. During the same period, a preliminary selection of conscripts for training in military training is carried out.

So, the army is just around the corner - what does a conscript need to know, what should he take with him to the assembly point? Citizens in respect of whom a decision has been made to conscript for military service are given a summons to appear at the appointed time at the military registration and enlistment office for subsequent transportation to the assembly point and further to the place of military service. On the day conscripts are sent to the assembly point, they are required to have with them:
– passport of a Russian citizen;
– registration certificate (on the same day the registration certificate is confiscated, and a military ID is issued in return);
– driver’s license and certificate of VUS (if available);
– shoes and clothes (according to the season).

Preparing for departure to a military unit is often done by wives, mothers or grandmothers, who strive to provide the conscript with a mass of unnecessary and useless things in army life: warm knitted socks, scarves, etc. The advice received by the conscript on what to take into the army will not be the most effective. from fathers and grandfathers who served several decades ago and who recommended taking with you more needles and threads or a week’s supply of stew - a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, the standards and procedures for providing for the defenders of the Fatherland have changed greatly.

At the assembly point, all conscripts are provided with food and clothing in accordance with established standards. Moreover, after receiving a military uniform, the conscript has the right to send his personal belongings home free of charge from the local branch of Russian Post (Clause 8 of Article 20 of the Federal Law “On the Status of Military Personnel”).

Often, conscripts at the military registration and enlistment office at their place of residence are given a memo that lists things that can be taken with them to the assembly point:
- toiletries;
– products (bread, canned food, condensed milk, water in a plastic bottle).

You can also take some cash with you, since there is often a small store on the territory of the assembly point where conscripts can purchase essential goods.

The same memo from the military registration and enlistment office usually indicates what is forbidden to take with you to the assembly point, in particular:
- piercing and cutting objects;
— alcoholic drinks;
- any medications, unless prescribed by a doctor.

Arrival at the military unit, young soldier course (KMB)

Conscripts can stay at the assembly point for several days while a “team” is formed to be sent to a military unit. Immediately upon arrival at the unit, recruits are taken to the bathhouse and dressed in uniform. Usually the foreman has such a trained eye that he can accurately determine the size and size of the issued uniform. But do not hesitate to immediately ask to change any element of the form in size if it does not suit you. Tight shoes and hats are the main cause of injury among recruits.

The staff strength of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (RF Armed Forces) from January 1, 2018 - by 293 people, or 0.016%, from 1 million 903 thousand 51 people to 1 million 902 thousand 758 people.

At the same time, the number of military personnel remained the same: 1 million 13 thousand 628 people. The TASS-DOSSIER editors have prepared a report on how the staffing levels of the Russian armed forces have changed.

Number of armed forces after the collapse of the USSR

The number of military personnel in the USSR Armed Forces by the end of 1991 reached 3.7-3.8 million people (not including civilian personnel). On May 7, 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree “On the creation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” This document, among other things, required the Ministry of Defense to develop and submit proposals for “reducing the size and combat strength of the RF Armed Forces.” At that time, according to various estimates, there were 2.5-2.8 million military personnel in Russia.

According to data from open sources, by 1994 the number of military personnel in Russia decreased to 2.1 million, by 1996 - to 1.7 million (40% compared to 1992). On May 31, 1996, Yeltsin signed the Law on Defense. Article 4 of the document stated that the powers of the head of state include approving the staffing levels of military personnel of the Armed Forces, other troops, military formations and bodies. From this moment on, the number of military personnel is established by decrees of the President of the Russian Federation. A total of seven such decrees have been published since 1997 (excluding the decree of November 17, 2017).

Decrees on the number of military personnel of the RF Armed Forces

On July 16, 1997, Yeltsin, by decree “On priority measures to reform the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and improve their structure,” established the regular number of military personnel of the Armed Forces at 1.2 million people from January 1, 1999. On March 24, 2001, there was a further reduction in the number of personnel of the Armed Forces. By Putin's decree "On ensuring the construction and development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, improving their structure," the number of military personnel from January 1, 2006 was reduced by 16.7% - to 1 million.

On November 28, 2005, by his decree, Putin for the first time since the collapse of the USSR increased the number of military personnel (by 13%) - from 1 million to 1 million 134 thousand 800 people (from January 1, 2006). The same decree for the first time established the staffing level of the RF Armed Forces (including civilian personnel) - 2 million 20 thousand 500 people.

On January 1, 2008, Putin left the number of military personnel unchanged from the date of signing the decree, slightly reducing only the total staffing strength of the Armed Forces - to 2 million 19 thousand 629 people.

On December 29, 2008, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, by decree “On some issues of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” again reduced the total number of military personnel by 12%, to 1 million. Moreover, as part of the military reform launched by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, the liquidation of the institute was announced midshipmen and warrant officers, as well as a reduction in the central apparatus and management of the Ministry of Defense by 2.5 times - from 22 thousand to 8.5 thousand people. In the same 2008, Serdyukov promised to reduce the officer corps of the Armed Forces by 2.3 times - from 355 thousand to 150 thousand.

However, already in 2011, the scale of the reduction in the officer corps was reduced. The institution of midshipmen and warrant officers was returned to the Armed Forces by the new Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu. In April 2015, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Nikolai Pankov said that the number of officer corps in Russia is about 200 thousand people.

On July 8, 2016, Putin signed a decree “On the staffing level of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” which left the number of military personnel unchanged (1 million), but increased the total number of armed forces by 542 people - up to 1 million 885 thousand 371 people.

On March 28, 2017, Putin for the first time since 2005 increased the number of military personnel in the Armed Forces by 1.3% - from 1 million to 1 million 13 thousand 628 people. By the same decree, the total staffing level of the Armed Forces (including civilian personnel) was increased from January 1, 2017 by 0.6% - to 1 million 897 thousand 694 people, and from July 1, 2017 - by another 0.3% - to 1 million 903 thousand 51 people.