Russian army

Ground Forces of the Russian Federation Сухопутные войска Российской Федерации Suhoputnye voyska Rossiyskoy Federatsii
Emblem of the Russian Ground Forces
Active	1992 – present (current form)
Country	Russia
Allegiance	Ministry of Defence
Type	Army
Size	658,000 personnel + 750,000 reserve (2015), does not include Airborne Troops (VDV)
Part of	Russian Armed Forces
Headquarters	Frunzenskaya Embankment 20-22, Moscow
Anniversaries	1 October
Engagements	Transnistria War Civil War in Tajikistan East Prigorodny conflict War in Abkhazia 1993 Russian constitutional crisis First Chechen War War of Dagestan Second Chechen War Russo-Georgian War Insurgency in the North Caucasus Military intervention in Ukraine Syrian Civil War
Commanders
Current commander	Colonel General Oleg Salyukov (since 2 May 2014)
Insignia
Flag
Great Emblem
Patch

The Ground Forces of the Russian Federation (Russian: Сухопутные войска Российской Федерации, tr. Suhoputnye voyska Rossiyskoy Federatsii) are the land forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. The formation of these forces posed economic challenges after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and required reforms to professionalize the force during the transition.

Since 1992, the Ground Forces have withdrawn many thousands of troops from former Soviet garrisons abroad, while remaining extensively committed to the , peacekeeping, and other operations in the Soviet successor states (what is known in Russia as the "near abroad").

The primary responsibilities of the Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, the security of occupied territories, and the defeat of enemy troops. The Ground Forces must be able to achieve these goals both in nuclear war and non-nuclear war, especially without the use of weapons of mass destruction. Furthermore, they must be capable of protecting the national interests of Russia within the framework of its international obligations.

The Main Command of the Ground Forces is officially tasked with the following objectives:

As the Soviet Union dissolved, efforts were made to keep the Soviet Armed Forces as a single military structure for the new Commonwealth of Independent States. The last Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union, Marshal Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, was appointed supreme commander of the CIS Armed Forces in December 1991. Among the numerous treaties signed by the former republics, in order to direct the transition period, was a temporary agreement on general purpose forces, signed in Minsk on 14 February 1992. However, once it became clear that Ukraine (and potentially the other republics) was determined to undermine the concept of joint general purpose forces and form their own armed forces, the new Russian government moved to form its own armed forces.