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'The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation' is the central organ of the Armed Forces Administration and the basic organ of operational management of the armed forces. The staff is organized by functions, with each directorate and operating agency overseeing a functional area, generally indicated by the organization's title. Working with the staffs of each of the services, the Main Operations Directorate drafts detailed plans for strategic operations for the Supreme High Command. Once the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command approves the plans, the General Staff issues them to operational commanders as Supreme High Command directives. The Chief of the General staff is appointed by the President of Russia who is the Supreme commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.
Since Soviet times, the General Staff has acted as the main commanding and supervising body of the Russian Military Forces. However, since 2004 the General Staff's role is being reduced to that of the Ministry's department of strategic planning, and the Minister himself is now gaining executive authority over the troops.
Viktor Samsonov and Anatoly Kvashnin were the Chiefs of the General Staff immediately preceding the current imcumbent, Yuri Baluyevsky.
The General Staff Academy remains, as during Soviet times, responsible for training officers for the General Staff.

Contents

Main Directorates

Chiefs of the General Staff

Russian Chiefs of the General Staff

Soviet Period

Sources and Further Reading

Main Directorates

★ Armaments- Liaison with military industrial complex

★ Armor Staff- supervision of maintenance and modernization of combat vehicles

★ Artillery Staff- supervision of maintenance and modernization of weapons

★ Billeting and Maintenance- Maintenance and operation of military real estate

★ Cadres- Management of careers of professional military officers and warrant officers

★ Construction- Supervision of funding and resources for new military construction

★ Construction Industry of Ministry of Defense- Supervision of classified construction projects.

★ Education- Education and training of cadres and specialists

★ Foreign Relations- Direction of foreign assistance programs and military attachés

★ Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU)- Successor to Soviet Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU); collection of strategic, technical, and tactical information for the armed forces

★ Military Counterintelligence- Oversight of military security matters

★ Motor Vehicles- Supervision of maintenance and modernization of wheeled vehicles

★ Organization- Mobilization Development and dissemination of mobilization plans for national emergencies

★ Personnel Work- Successor to Soviet political office, for management of enlisted personnel

★ Trade- Management of foreign military sales

★ 8th Directorate- Department of Information Security

★ 10th Directorate

★ 12th Main Directorate- nuclear

★ 15th Main Directorate- Biological Weapons

★ 16th Directorate

Chiefs of the General Staff

Russian Chiefs of the General Staff

★ Yuri Baluyevsky (2004-current)

★ Anatoly Kvashnin (1997-2004)

★ Viktor Samsonov (1996 acting)

★ Mikhail Kolesnikov (1992-1996)

Soviet Period

★ Army General V I Lobov (23 08 1991-07 12 1991)

★ Mikhail Moiseev М А Моисеев П4 12 1988-23 08 1991),

★ Sergei Akhromeyev 1984-88 (СФ Ахромеев (060984-141288))

★ N.I. Ogarkov (01 1977-060984),

★ V.G. Kulikov (210971-01 1977),

★ С С Бирюзов (060369-191064),

★ МВ Захаров (190460-070363 и 23 11 64-210971),

★ Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Sokolovsky (170652-190460),

★ генерал армии СМ Штеменко (121148-170652)

★ Marshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky (250346-121148)

★ Генерал армии А И Антонов (до 250346),(Aleksei Antonov?)

Sources and Further Reading

★ Does Russia Need A General Staff? (European Security Winter 2001
Vol. 10, No. 3, translation by Foreign Military Studies Office)

★ V.I. Feskov, K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945-91, Tomsk University Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004