

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. 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. The last Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union, Marshal Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, was appointed supreme commander of the CIS Armed Forces in December 1991.

The President of Russia is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, and the defeat of enemy troops. 'Army of Russia'), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The Russian Ground Forces ( Russian: Сухопутные войска, romanized: Sukhoputnyye voyska ), also known as the Russian Army ( Russian: Армия России, romanized: Armiya Rossii, lit.
