Russia

摘要

The president is commander in chief of Russia's armed forces. The minister of defense is in charge of day-to-day civilian oversight of the military. However, there are more than 10 different ministries that maintain a standing military force, including the Ministry of the Interior, the Emergency Situations Ministry, the Federal Border Guard Service, and the Railway Troops. Russia has indicated a long-term interest in developing a professional military force and rationalizing and reorganizing its existing military units into more capable and mobile formations. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense, despite strong backing from the presidency, met some resistance to fully meeting these objectives from a collection of factors, including entrenched bureaucratic interests, inadequate funding, unrealistic timelines, and economic challenges. Significant reform was carried out following the 2008 war with Georgia which, despite an overwhelming success for the Russian military, demonstrated drawbacks in its capabilities.