Russian Armed Forces Guide

[Greener161]

Russian Armed Forces Guide

So you're looking to create a Russian Armed Forces character but don't know what unit or background to write. Well you came to the right place. This guide is centred purely around the background to the Russian Armed Forces. This guide will detail the units that are near to the Chernarussian Border focusing on the Southern Military District. The guide will also explain other branches of the military as well as some internal ministry and other governmental organisations within Russia that yield troops of some degree. I have also edited the server lore into the guide. If you are considering making a character I suggest relating the soldier to the 320th Battalion if possible. 

Contents

• Structure
• Personnel
• Equipment
• 320th Motor Rifle Battalion
• Southern Military District
• Southern Military District Forces
• List of Russian Military Deployments
• Special Considerations

Structure

The Armed forces under the ministry of defence is divided into several branches, those being the ground forces, aerospace forces, navy, strategic missile forces, airborne troops, special operations forces and logistical support. These are divided into military districts: Western Military District, Southern Military District, Central Military District, and the Eastern Military District as well as different naval fleets being assigned to joint strategic command centres apart from these districts. 

• Joint Strategic Command West - Western Military District (HQ in St. Petersburg), includes the Baltic Fleet;
• Joint Strategic Command Northern Fleet - (HQ in Severomorsk);
• Joint Strategic Command South - Southern Military District (HQ in Rostov-on-Don) includes the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla;
• Joint Strategic Command Center - Central Military District (HQ in Yekaterinburg);
• Joint Strategic Command East - Eastern Military District (HQ in Khabarovsk), includes the Pacific Fleet.

Personnel

Conscription

Conscription is still used in Russia; the term of service being 12 months; and eligible age is between 18 and 33 years old. Deferments are provided to undergraduate and graduate students, men solely supporting disabled relatives, parents of at least two children and — upon Presidential proclamation — to some employees of military-oriented enterprises. Men holding a Ph.D., as well as sons and brothers of servicemen killed or disabled during their military service, are released from conscription. Typically these men are not deployed on missions wherever the Russian military is operating. 

Contract Soldiers

A bulk of the Russian Army after reforms now consist of contract soldiers. These are men/women who signed contracts for a certain number of years of military service. Most contract or career soldiers typically head on to become NCOs or specialised troops (radio, medical, tank crewman etc). The Russian Armed forces encourage people to sign up and specialize and technical expertise. Around 90% of the southern military district is made of contract servicemen.

Officers

Officers are the primary trainers, disciplinarians, and repositories for institutional knowledge in the Russian Armed Forces. The Russian officer education system emphasizes developing expertise in the officer’s particular specialty, and begins when the officer is a cadet. Russian military academies do not impart a general university education, as similar institutions do in the West, but instead create competent leaders and experts who immediately begin leading and executing their duties after graduation. 

Women

The Russian Federation has a long tradition of women in uniform. Women served in the Soviet military in many capacities in the Second World War. In addition to agricultural and industrial work, women served in noncombat positions such as uniformed secretaries, translators, nurses, and block wardens. As previously mentioned, it is not uncommon to see the wives of contract NCOs and officers enlist as contract NCOs. These spouses often serve as uniformed cooks, admin support, and radio/telephone operators (in garrison). But women may also serve in their own right, and are often encountered as medical and communications fields, in officer and contract NCO capacities. Women do not serve in combat arms branches,but this does mean they only serve out of harm’s way.

Equipment

If you are creating a Russian Military character I strongly suggest you find pictures of soldiers in a Ratnik infantry combat system. This was all designed for the modernization of the Russian Military. If you want examples, just give it a google search or look at the characters apart of the 320th. If your character was serving after 2016 please use these images, I’d rather not see character pictures of people running around in gorka, atacs and other uniforms that standard Russian infantry do not wear. 

Thankfully a lot of this gear is now found in game. Some of these items do not exist in the game but this is an overview of the ratnik combat system.

Combat Uniform Items

• VKBO Layer system - a multilayer system manufactured by BTK Group designed for use at temperatures from +15 °C (59 °F) to −40 °C (−40 °F).
• 6Sh122 Masking Suit (6ш122) - a reversible combat oversuit designed for concealment in a variety of environments

Combat Equipment

• 6B45/6B43 (6Б45/6Б43) - Primary body armour system for infantry units
• 6B46 (6Б46) - Plate carrier style armour system for light-weight units
• 6B48 (6Б48) Ratnik-ZK - Primary body armour system for tank and AFV crews[13]
• 6B47 (6Б47) - Aramid fibre helmet system rated for small arms fire. Includes two covers that allow the helmet to be jumpable, one white and one in the standard EMR (Digital Flora) pattern.
• 6Sh116/6Sh117 (6ш116/6ш117) - Load bearing equipment with a variety of utility and magazine pouches to suit the various weapons of the Russian Military, includes a 7-litre 'butt pack' and 25-litre patrol backpack.
• 6Sh118 RAID Pack (6ш118) - 60-litre backpack designed for carrying large equipment and for long deployments.
• GSSh-01-01 (6m2-1) - Active hearing protection with radio cable.

Accessories

• 6B50 (6Б50) - Dust and impact goggles
• 6B51 (6Б51) - Knee and elbow protection based on an improved version of the Russian-made Splav 'X Pads'
• 6Sh122 Gloves (6ш122)
• VKBO Summer boots
• Faradei Winterised boots
• 6E5 Light Shovel
• 6E6 Multitool
• 6Sh120 Shelter system
• 6E4-1 Watch
• FSS-014 Light - light system that can be mounted to 6B47 (6Б47) helmet
• NF-10 Individual water system
• 1PN140 and 1PN141 night and thermal vision sights

Weapons

Here are some of the weapons that you could use and that are found in game.

• AK74M
• AK12
• SVD
• RPK
• RPK74
• VSS
• AS VAL

320th Motor Rifle Battalion

This is the current lore faction of the Russian Armed Forces that was deployed in 2018 to assist in keeping the peace of the Chernarussian Republic. The 320th (150th Motor Rifle Division, 8th Guards Army) along with 2 other battalions of Motor Rifle Infantry troops were sent to Chernarus to garrison the military installations and assist with the integration of the Republic Army of Chernarus into the Russian Armed Forces. The 320th were specifically stationed in South Zagoria. More information can be found on the lore faction thread. 

It is likely if you are making a Russian soldier career and were in Chernarus when the outbreak occurred you were MOST LIKELY in the 320th, if standard infantry grunt. So please if you want to really play a current Russian serviceman, read this to help a bit with your background and then apply to join the 320th. 

Southern Military District

It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the North Caucasus region of the country, and Russian bases in South Caucasian post-Soviet states. The Southern Military District was created as part of the 2008 military reforms, and founded by Presidential Decree №1144 signed on September 20, 2010, to replace the North Caucasus Military District, and absorbing the military commands of the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla.

The Southern Military District also features two Russian military bases in Armenia: the 102nd Military Base in Gyumri, and the 3624th Air Base at the civil-military Erebuni Airport in the capital Yerevan, under the joint control of Armenian and Russian authorities.

In April 2014, Crimea and Sevastopol were added to the Southern Military District following the 2014 Crimean crisis in Ukraine, when they were annexed by Russia. The legal status of Crimea (as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea) and the city of Sevastopol is currently under dispute: Ukraine and the majority of the international community considers them an integral part of Ukraine, while Russia considers them an integral part of Russia, with Crimea (as the Republic of Crimea) and Sevastopol approved as federal subjects of Russian Federation. 

In October 2018, Chernarus was added to the Southern Military District following the referendum in Chernarus in 2016 that a yes vote of 87%  deemed the country would join the Russian Federation. The Republic Army of Chernarus would slowly become integrated into the Russian Armed Forces under the Southern Military District. 

https://www.gfsis.org/maps/russian-military-forces This link provides the location of said units. 

Southern Military District Forces

58th Army (Vladikavkaz)

• 42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division (Shali, Khankala, Borzoy)
• 19th Motor Rifle Brigade (Vladikavkaz)
• 136th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Buynaksk)
• 12th Rocket Brigade (Mozdok)
• 291st Artillery Brigade (Troitskaya)
• 67th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Volgograd/Beketovskaya, Volgograd Oblast)
• 34th C3 Brigade (Vladikavkaz)

8th Army (Novocherkassk)

• 150th Motor Rifle Division (Novocherkassk)
• 20th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Volgograd)
• 464th Rocket Brigade

49th Army (Stavropol/Maykop)

• 205th Motor Rifle Brigade (Budennovsk)
• 34th Motorized Rifle Brigade (Mountain) (Storozhevaya-2)
• 66th C3 Brigade (Stavropol)
• 227th Artillery Brigade (Maykop)
• 1st Guards Rocket Brigade (Krasnodar)
• 439th Guards Perekop Order of Kurozov Rocket Artillery Brigade (Znamensk)
• 21st NBC Defense Brigade (Kamyshin)
• 175th C3 Brigade (Aksay)
• 176th Communications Brigade (Novocherkassk)
• 154th ECM Brigade OSN (Izobilny)
• Logistic Support Brigade in (Stavropol)

102nd Military Base (Gyumri, Armenia)

• 76th Motorized Brigade (Gyumri, Armenia)
• 73rd Motorized Brigade (Yerevan, Armenia)
• 988th Air Defense Regiment (Gyumri, Armenia)

Other component troops

• 175th Luninets-Pinsk Order of Alexander Nevsky Twice Red Star Headquarters Brigade (Aksay)
• 176th Communications Brigade (Territorial) (Rassvet)
• 11th Guards Kingisepp Red Banner Order of Alexander Nevsky Engineering Brigade (Kamensk-Shakhtinsky)
• 28th NBC Defence Brigade (Kamyshin)
• 439th Rocket Artillery Brigade (Znamensk)
• 1270th Electronic Warfare Center (Kovalevka)
• 37th Railway Brigade (Russian Railway Troops) (Volgograd)
• 39th Railway Brigade (Krasnodar)
• 333rd Railway Pontoon Bridge Battalion (Volgograd)
• Mountain Training Center of the Armed Forces (Baksan)
• 54th Training Center of Intelligence Units (Vladikavkaz)
• 27th Training Center of Railway Troops (Volgograd)
• 4th Guards Military Base in (Dzhava-Tskhinval, South Ossetia, Georgia)
• 7th Military Base (Gudauta, Abkhazia, Georgia) 'Krasnodar Red Banner, Order of Kutuzov, Order of the Red Star' (former 131st Motor Rifle Brigade)

Airborne Troops

• 56th Guards Air Assault Brigade (Kamyshin)
• 7th Guards Airborne Division at (Novorossiysk)

Special forces/Reconnaissance

• 100th Reconnaissance Brigade (Experimental) (Mozdok-7)
• 10th Spetsnaz Brigade in (Krasnodar)
• 22nd Guards Spetsnaz Brigade in (Rostov-on-Don)

Air Force units

• 4th Air and Air Defence Forces Army

Naval Forces

• Black Sea Fleet
  • 22nd Army Corps
    • 810th Naval Infantry Brigade
    • 382nd Naval Infantry Battalion
    • 11th Coastal Defense Missile-Artillery Brigade
    • 126th Coastal Defense Brigade
    • 1096th Fleet Rocket Artillery Regiment (Coastal Defense)
    • 8th Field Artillery Regiment (Coastal Defense)
    • 68th Fleet Naval Engineers Regiment
    • 133rd Fleet Logistics and Materiel Regiment
    • 4th Fleet NBC Regiment
• Caspian Flotilla
  • 177th Naval Infantry Regiment
    • Regimental HQ
    • 414th and 727th Naval Infantry Battalions
    • Tank Battalion
  • 46th Coastal Defense Missile Artillery Battalion (Surface to Air)

List of Russian Armed Forces Deployments

This will only have post 2000 deployments to avoid people making high ranking officers etc who have served since the 1990s etc. We don’t want random ass people making high ranking russian officials. Let the lore team and those approved by the lore team do that. If you do want to have an old dude that served but is retired you can message me for other deployments.

• Second Chechen War 1999-2009
• Russo-Georgian War 2008
• Insurgency in the North Caucasus 2009 - 2017
• Russian military intervention in the Chernarussian Civil war 2009-2010
• Russian military intervention in the Ukraine 2014-present
• Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil war 2015-present

Special Considerations

VDV (Russian Airborne Forces)

Structurally, the Russian Airborne is a heavily mechanised force and is divided between parachute and air assault units. In terms of function, the Russian VDV fulfils many of the same roles as those in the West, but also fills another niche not filled by Western airborne forces, that of a reliable enforcer for politically sensitive operations. The Russian Airborne Forces are well known for their mobility, utilising a large amount of specifically designed vehicles built for airborne transport, as such, they are fully mechanised and traditionally have a larger complement of heavy weaponry than most contemporary airborne forces. Troops of the Russian Airborne Forces have traditionally worn a blue beret and blue-striped telnyashka and are called desant. So don’t be wearing a telnyashka if you’re not VDV. 

Naval Infantry

The Russian Naval Infantry operates as the amphibious force of the Russian Navy. Naval Infantry is a heavily mechanised force, and has much in common with the Russian Ground Forces and VDV in terms of tactics, doctrine, and equipment, including the fact that it does not possess its own organic aviation assets, relying on the Russian Aerospace Troops (Air Force) for all aviation support. These similarities make the practice of detaching units from one of these services, and attaching them to another, a routine practice in the Russian Armed Forces. The Russian Naval Infantry is considered an elite force in the Russian Armed Forces, regularly training and operating with the Russian Airborne Forces. Although the Naval Infantry are mostly formed into brigades, these brigades are significantly smaller, and subsequently have far less combat power than Ground Forces, and even Airborne brigades. Naval infantry also wear a telnyashka but a darker blue and wear a black beret. Again don’t wear these items if your character isn’t naval infantry. 

Military Police

Russian Military Police are intended to uphold law and order, provide physical security, conduct investigations into acts of disciplinary and general criminal misconduct, operate military jails, and ensure general traffic safety, but they do not provide route security.12 In certain situations, the Military Police provide protection for victims, witnesses, and other participants in criminal proceedings such as service personnel, military court judges, and military prosecutors. The Military Police have assumed control of Ministry of Defense disciplinary units and garrison guardhouses (jails). Russian Military Police are also considered an agency of inquiry in the Armed Forces, which gives them the authority to conduct inquests. Military Police are distinct as they wear a black armband indicating they’re military police along with being seen wearing red berets. 

Spetsnaz

Don’t please

Internal Ministry Troops

WIP

 

Edited June 2, 2020 by Greener161

[groovy harlow]

Greener doing God's work once again.

[cheeks]

Holy moly, that's some detailed shit. Good work greener! 

[groovy pijka]

Can't wait for commanding General of the Spetsnaz unit to paradrop into our camp!