Editing Russian Armed Forces (section)

===1991-2022===
The [[Soviet Union]] officially [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolved]] on 25 December 1991. For the next year various attempts to keep its unity and to transform it into the military of the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] (CIS) failed. Over time, some units stationed in the newly independent republics swore loyalty to their new national governments, while a series of treaties between the newly independent states divided up the military's assets.{{sfn|Odom|1998|pages=369-387}}

Apart from assuming control of the bulk of the former Soviet [[Internal Troops]] and the [[Soviet Border Troops|KGB Border Troops]], seemingly the only independent defence move the new [[Government of Russia|Russian government]] made before March 1992 involved announcing the establishment of a [[National Guard of Russia|National Guard]].<ref>For some early discussion on this period, see Richard Woff, "A Russian Army", ''[[Jane's Intelligence Review]]'', May 1992, 198-200. See also ''Voenniy vestnik'' No 12, 1991.</ref> Until 1995, it was planned to form at least 11 [[brigade]]s numbering 3,000 to 5,000 each, with a total of no more than 100,000. National Guard military units were to be deployed in 10 regions, including in Moscow (three brigades), (two brigades), and a number of other important cities and regions. In Moscow alone 15,000 personnel expressed their desire to service in the new Russian Army, mostly former [[Soviet Armed Forces]] servicemen. In the end, President [[Boris Yeltsin|Yeltsin]] tabled a [[decree]] "On the temporary position of the Russian Guard", but it was not put into practice.<ref name="Korotkaya Russian gvardii.">{{cite web|url=http://tsiganok.ru/vpa/reforma/doc/260 |title=Short life of the new Russian Guard |publisher=Tsiganok.ru |date=21 December 2006 |access-date=24 March 2014}}</ref>

After signing the [[Belovezha Accords|Belavezha Accords]] on 21 December 1991, the countries of the newly formed CIS signed a protocol on the temporary appointment of [[Marshal of Aviation]] [[Yevgeny Shaposhnikov]] as [[Minister of Defence]] and commander of the armed forces in their territory, including strategic nuclear forces. On 14 February 1992 Shaposhnikov formally became Supreme Commander of the CIS Armed Forces. On 16 March 1992 a decree by Boris Yeltsin created the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the operational control of Allied High Command and the Ministry of Defence, which was headed by [[President (government title)|President]].{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} Finally, on 7 May 1992, Yeltsin signed a decree establishing the armed forces and Yeltsin assumed the duties of the Supreme Commander.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politika.su/prav/minobor.html|script-title=ru:Министерство обороны Российской Федерации|trans-title=Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation|language=ru|publisher=Politika.su|access-date=24 March 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221184734/https://www.politika.su/prav/minobor.html|archive-date=21 December 2012}}</ref>

In May 1992, General Colonel [[Pavel Grachev]] became the Minister of Defence, and was made Russia's first [[Army General (Russia)|Army General]] on assuming the post. By August or December 1993 CIS military structures had become CIS military cooperation structures with all real influence lost.<ref>The Staff for Coordinating Military Cooperation was established as the CIS Joint Armed Forces High Command in March 1992 and then reorganised as the Coordinating Staff in August 1993. It quickly became a very weak body as the new states' authorities asserted their control over their own armed forces. (Russia and NIS Mineral Industry Handbook, International Business Publications, 2007.) [[Army General]] [[Vladimir Yakovlev (general)]] appears to have become Chief of the Staff in June 2001 (DS2002-0819).</ref>

In the next few years, Russian forces withdrew from central and eastern Europe, as well as from some newly independent post-Soviet republics.  While in most places the withdrawal took place without any problems, the Russian Armed Forces remained in some disputed areas such as the [[Sevastopol]] naval base in the [[Crimea]] as well as in [[Abkhazia]], [[South Ossetia]] and in [[Transnistria]]. The Armed Forces have [[List of Russian military bases abroad|several bases]] in foreign countries, especially on territory of the former Soviet Republics.

In late 2000 ''Gazeta.ru'' reported that of 600,000 personnel planned to be dismissed from the various "power ministries," the Armed Forces would be reduced by 365,000.<ref>Gazeta.ru, "Military Machine Sentenced to Cut-back," 10 November 2000, http://www.gazeta.ru/print/mmstcb.shtml.</ref>

Both in Soviet and Russian times, [[corruption]] has been a significant impediment to the Armed Forces. "The change from Yeltsin to Putin ..had minimal effect on Russian military corruption. Putin, despite his desire to rebuild Russian strength, has not shown himself willing or able
to seriously deal with" corruption.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bukkvoll |first=Tor |date=January 2008 |title=Their Hands in the Till: Scale and Causes of Russian Military Corruption |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0095327X06294622 |journal=Armed Forces & Society |language=en |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=259–275 |doi=10.1177/0095327X06294622 |s2cid=145238073 |issn=0095-327X |access-date=4 November 2023 |archive-date=4 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104010436/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0095327X06294622 |url-status=live }}</ref> From 1991 to 2001, Russian authorities uncovered at least 350 billion rubles' (US$11.5 billion) worth of corruption in the armed forces (with, for comparison, the total defence budget for 2001 being 214 billion rubles). Areas of particular concern identified by a researcher at the [[Norwegian Defence Research Establishment]] in 2007 included the State Defence Order (perhaps 10-15% realised in 2004); "[[ghost soldiers]]," as "it is generally acknowledged that the number of actually serving personnel differs substantially from the authorized number of personnel," and officers at various levels can pocket excess money for themselves; and "the domestic purchases of goods and services, where corrupt officers overpay civilian providers in return for bribes."

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 | footer = Russian stamps honoring soldiers killed in the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|invasion of Ukraine]]. As of February 2023, the number of Russian soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine was estimated at nearly 200,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/us/politics/ukraine-russia-casualties.html |work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2 February 2023|title=Soaring Death Toll Gives Grim Insight Into Russian Tactics|access-date=19 March 2023|archive-date=7 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207184914/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/us/politics/ukraine-russia-casualties.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
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