Flag of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. Moscow Frunzenskaya Embankment at Foreign minister russian federation Bridge 08-2016.
The President of Russia is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and directs the activity of the Ministry. The main building of the ministry, built in the 1980s, is located on Arbatskaya Square, near Arbat Street. Other buildings of the ministry are located throughout the city of Moscow. The current Russian Minister of Defence is Sergey Shoygu. Lobanov-Rostovsky Palace, Former Defense Ministry building. The structure of the Russian Defense Ministry does not imply military subordination to civilian authority in the Western sense.
The historical tradition of military command is considerably different in Russia. The tsars were educated as officers, and they regularly wore military uniforms and held military rank. In May 1992, President of Russia Boris Yeltsin appointed General of the Army Pavel Grachev to the post of Minister of Defence. In March 2001, Sergei Ivanov, previously secretary of the Security Council of Russia was appointed defence minister by President Vladimir Putin, becoming Russia’s first non-uniformed civilian defence minister. As of 2002 there were four living Marshals of the Soviet Union. Such men are automatically Advisors to the Defence Minister. Perhaps the first ‘real’ non-uniformed Defence Minister was Anatoliy Serdyukov, appointed in February 2007.
Serdyukov was a former Tax Minister with little siloviki or military associations beyond his two years’ military service. 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. It is commanded by the Chief of General Staff. Military Thought is the military-theoretical journal of the Ministry of Defence, and Krasnaya Zvezda its daily newspaper. General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation directorates, departments, etc.
Chief of Rear of the Armed Forces Military medical, trade, transportation, food, clothing, etc. Chief of Armaments of the Armed Forces Test ranges, study centres, Military research institutes etc. Chief of the Main Department of Cadres military schools, military academies, etc. For military leaders of the Russian Empire, see Ministry of War of the Russian Empire and List of heads of the military of Imperial Russia. Marshal of Aviation Yevgeny Shaposhnikov was the last Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union. The first Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation was Boris Yeltsin, who appointed himself to the position by a decree of mid March 1992.
