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| Minister of Defence ofthe Russian Federation | |
|---|---|
| Министр обороны Российской Федерации | |
 Emblem of the Minister of Defence | |
 Ensign of the Minister of Defence | |
 | |
 Ministry of Defence | |
| Member of | Government Security Council CIS Defence Ministers Council |
| Reports to | President |
| Seat | Defence Ministry Building,Moscow |
| Appointer | President after consultation withFederation Council |
| Precursor | Minister of Defence (Soviet Union) |
| Formation | 20 August 1991 (1991-08-20) |
| First holder | Konstantin Kobets |
| Deputy | First Deputy Minister of Defence |
| Website | structure.mil.ru/minister.htm |
Theminister of defence of the Russian Federation (Russian:Министр обороны Российской Федерации) is the minister responsible for theRussian Armed Forces.Marshal of AviationYevgeny Shaposhnikov was the lastminister of defence of the Soviet Union. General ColonelKonstantin Kobets supported then President of theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist RepublicBoris Yeltsin during theAugust coup of 1991. From 19 August until 9 September 1991, Konstantin Kobets was defence minister of the RSFSR, though there was no ministry.[1] This post was then abolished.
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.[2]
In May 1992,President of RussiaBoris Yeltsin appointedGeneral of the ArmyPavel Grachev to the post of minister of defence. Grachev's decision to side with Yeltsin in theRussian constitutional crisis of 1993, when the president called up tanks to shell theRussian White House to blast his opponents out of parliament, effectively deprived theSupreme Soviet of Russia of its nominal an opportunity[clarification needed] to overturn the president's authority. At least partly for that reason, Yeltsin retained his defence minister despite intense criticism of Grachev's management of theFirst Chechen War and the Russian military establishment in general. Finally, Yeltsin's victory in the first round of the1996 Russian presidential election spurred Yeltsin to dismiss Grachev.[citation needed]
In March 2001,Sergei Ivanov, previously secretary of theSecurity Council of Russia, was appointed defence minister by PresidentVladimir Putin, becoming Russia's first non-uniformed civilian defence minister.[3]Putin called the personnel changes in Russia's security structures coinciding with Ivanov's appointment as defence minister "a step toward demilitarizing public life." Putin also stressed Ivanov's responsibility for overseeing military reform as defence minister. What Putin did not emphasise was Ivanov's long service within theKGB andFSB and his then rank of General-Lieutenant within the FSB. Such military and security agency associated men are known assiloviki.
As of 2002 there were four livingMarshals of the Soviet Union. Such men were automatically advisors to the defence minister. The Marshals alive at that time wereViktor Kulikov,Vasily Petrov,Sergei Sokolov, a former minister of defence of the Soviet Union, andDmitri Yazov. Yazov was listed by the American analysts Scott and Scott in 2002 as a consultant to the (former 10th) Directorate for International Military Cooperation.[4] The last of the four, Yazov, died in February 2020.
Perhaps the first 'real' non-uniformed defence minister wasAnatoliy Serdyukov, appointed in February 2007. Serdyukov was a former Tax Minister with little siloviki or military associations beyond his two years' military service.
| No. | Portrait | Name (born-died) | Term of office | Political party | Defence branch | Government | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
| 1 |  | Kobets, KonstantinGeneral of the Army Konstantin Kobets (1939–2012) | 20 August 1991 | 9 September 1991 | 20 days | CPSU |  Russian Ground Forces | Silaev II | |
| Between 9 September 1991 and 7 May 1992 the Russian Federation de jure did not have its own minister of defence. During this period its armed forces were under control of Minister of Defence of the Soviet UnionYevgeny Shaposhnikov. | |||||||||
| – | .jpg) | Yeltsin, BorisColonel Boris Yeltsin (1931–2007) Acting | 16 March 1992 | 18 May 1992 | 63 days | Independent | None | Yeltsin & Gaidar | |
| 2 |  | Grachev, PavelGeneral of the Army Pavel Grachev (1948–2012) | 18 May 1992 | 18 June 1996 | 4 years, 31 days | Independent |  Russian Airborne Forces | Yeltsin & Gaidar Chernomyrdin I | |
| – |  | Kolesnikov, MikhailGeneral of the Army Mikhail Kolesnikov (1939–2007) Acting | 18 June 1996 | 17 July 1996 | 29 days | Independent | Russian Ground Forces | Chernomyrdin I | |
| 3 |  | Rodionov, IgorGeneral of the Army in reserve Igor Rodionov (1936–2014) | 17 July 1996 | 22 May 1997 | 309 days | Independent | Russian Ground Forces | Chernomyrdin I–II | |
| 4 |  | Sergeyev, IgorMarshal of the Russian Federation Igor Sergeyev (1938–2006) | 22 May 1997 | 28 March 2001 | 3 years, 310 days | Independent |  Strategic Rocket Forces | Chernomyrdin II Kiriyenko Primakov Stepashin Putin I Kasyanov | |
| 5 |  | Ivanov, SergeiColonel general in reserve Sergei Ivanov (born 1953) | 28 March 2001 | 15 February 2007 | 5 years, 324 days | United Russia |  Federal Security Service | Kasyanov Fradkov I–II | |
| 6 |  | Serdyukov, AnatoliyColonel in reserve Anatoliy Serdyukov (born 1962) | 15 February 2007 | 6 November 2012 | 5 years, 265 days | United Russia | Russian Ground Forces | Fradkov II Zubkov Putin II Medvedev I | |
| 7 |  | Shoigu, SergeiGeneral of the Army Sergei Shoigu (born 1955) | 6 November 2012 | 12 May 2024 | 11 years, 188 days | United Russia |  Ministry of Emergency Situations | Medvedev I–II Mishustin I | |
| 8 | | Belousov, AndreyAndrey Belousov (born 1959) | 14 May 2024 | Incumbent | 1 year, 276 days | Independent | None | Mishustin II | |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) 7 June 2010.