Russia Military Forces 🇷🇺

Strategic Position

Russia's strategic posture is defined by a state of high-intensity conflict with Ukraine and a confrontational relationship with NATO. Primary security concerns center on the expansion of NATO membership to include Finland and Sweden, which led to the re-establishment of the Leningrad and Moscow Military Districts to reinforce the northwestern border. Russia maintains its primary regional alliance through the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Union State with Belarus, the latter of which serves as a platform for integrated regional force groupings and the forward deployment of tactical nuclear weapons. Recent bilateral agreements with North Korea and Iran provide technical support, labor, and materiel for ongoing military operations.

The military doctrine was updated in late 2024 to lower the threshold for nuclear use. The revised "Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence" stipulates that an attack by a non-nuclear state supported by a nuclear power is considered a joint attack on the Russian Federation. The doctrine also reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to conventional attacks that pose a critical threat to the sovereignty or territorial integrity of Russia or Belarus.

Military Forces

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are organized into the Ground Forces, Aerospace Forces (VKS), and Navy, with independent branches for the Strategic Rocket Forces (RVSN) and Airborne Forces (VDV). Command is exercised through five military districts: Leningrad, Moscow, Southern, Central, and Eastern.

Approximate personnel strength consists of 1.5 million active-duty servicemen, supported by a reserve force of 2 million and 250,000 paramilitary personnel under the National Guard (Rosgvardiya). Conscription occurs year-round, following legislative changes in late 2025.

Ground Forces: The army operates T-90M and T-72B3M main battle tanks, BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, and BTR-82A armored personnel carriers. Artillery remains a central capability, utilizing 2S19 Msta-S and 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV self-propelled howitzers, alongside BM-30 Smerch and Tornado-S multiple launch rocket systems.

Aerospace Forces: The VKS maintains a fleet of Su-35S and Su-30SM multirole fighters, Su-34 strike aircraft, and a growing number of Su-57 fifth-generation fighters. Long-range aviation operates Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic bombers. Air defense is provided by the S-400 Triumf and S-350 Vityaz systems.

Naval Forces: The Navy operates the Borei-A class ballistic missile submarines and Yasen-M class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines. Surface capabilities include Admiral Gorshkov-class frigates equipped with Tsirkon hypersonic missiles.

Specialized Capabilities: The RVSN maintains the land-based nuclear triad, fielding Yars and Sarmat ICBMs. Recent operational testing includes the Oreshnik, a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile. Cyber operations and electronic warfare (EW) units, such as those operating the Krasukha and Pole-21 systems, are integrated into all levels of command.

Defense Industry

The Russian defense sector operates under a state-mandated wartime footing, led by the state conglomerate Rostec. Domestic production focuses on high-volume output of heavy armor, missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Uralvagonzavod maintains production lines for the T-90M, while the Alabuga Special Economic Zone produces the Geran-2 loitering munition.

While Russia is largely self-sufficient in the production of airframes, hulls, and propellant, the industry remains dependent on third-party intermediaries and parallel imports for advanced microelectronics and CNC machinery. Defense cooperation with North Korea has expanded to include the delivery of artillery shells and ballistic missiles, alongside the use of North Korean labor in Russian production facilities.

Strategic Trends

Defense spending for 2025 and 2026 is approximately 7% of GDP, representing over 35% of total federal expenditures. Procurement priorities emphasize the mass integration of First-Person View (FPV) drones, glide-bomb kits for the VKS, and hypersonic missile systems.

A force structure shift is underway, moving from the brigade-centric model of the 2008 reforms back to a divisional structure intended for large-scale conventional warfare. Challenges to this expansion include a shrinking civilian workforce and the long-term attrition of legacy equipment stocks from the Soviet era. Modernization programs increasingly rely on the integration of artificial intelligence for autonomous target recognition and the expansion of satellite constellations for military communications and reconnaissance.