List of heads of the military of post-imperial Russia

This article presents the heads of the military departments of the Russian Provisional Government (Russian Republic), the Russian SFSR, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation.

Provisional Government (1917) Ministers of War and Navy of the Russian Provisional GovernmentРеволюция 1917 года в РоссииPortraitNameTime in officePrime Minister Alexander Guchkov16 March 191713 May 1917Georgy LvovAlexander Kerensky18 May 191714 September 1917Alexander KerenskyColonel →Major generalAlexander Verkhovsky14 September 1917 7 November 1917Minister of the Navy of the Russian Provisional GovernmentCounter admiralDmitry Verderevsky14 September 1917 7 November 1917Alexander Kerensky

Provisional All-Russian Government/Russian State (1918–1920) PortraitNameTime in officePrime MinisterHead of stateMinister of War and Navy of the Provisional All-Russian GovernmentVice admiralAlexander Kolchak4 November 191818 November 1918Pyotr VologodskyNikolai AvksentievMinisters of War of the Russian State Lieutenant general18 November 191823 May 1919Pyotr VologodskyAlexander Kolchak Major general23 May 191910 August 1919 Lieutenant generalMikhail Diterikhs10 August 191927 August 1919 Lieutenant general27 August 19195 October 1919General of the Artillery5 October 19194 January 1920Viktor PepelyayevMinister of the Navy of the Russian State Captain 1st rank →Counter admiralMikhail Smirnov 18 November 1918 4 January 1920Pyotr VologodskyViktor PepelyayevAlexander Kolchak

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1922) People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs of the RSFSR Portrait NameTime in office Nikolai Podvoisky 23 November 1917 13 March 1918 Leon Trotsky 13 March 1918 12 November 1923

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991) PortraitNameTime in officePeople's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs of the USSRБорисов В. А. Высшие органы военного руководства СССР, 1923 −1991 гг.Leon Trotsky12 November 192326 January 1925Mikhail Frunze26 January 192531 October 1925Kliment Voroshilov6 November 192520 June 1934People's Commissars of Defense of the USSRMarshal of the Soviet UnionKliment Voroshilov20 June 19347 May 1940 Marshal of the Soviet UnionSemyon Timoshenko7 May 1940 19 July 1941Marshal of the Soviet Union →GeneralissimoJoseph Stalin19 July 194125 February 1946People's Commissars of the Navy of the USSRArmy Commissar of 1st rankPyotr Smirnov30 December 193730 June 1938Komandarm 1st rankMikhail Frinovsky8 September 193820 March 1939Admiral →Admiral of the fleetNikolai Kuznetsov28 April 193925 February 1946People's Commissar of the Armed Forces of the USSR GeneralissimoJoseph Stalin25 February 194615 March 1946Ministers of the Armed Forces of the USSR GeneralissimoJoseph Stalin15 March 19463 March 1947Marshal of the Soviet UnionNikolay Bulganin3 March 1947 24 March 1949Marshal of the Soviet UnionAlexander Vasilevsky24 March 194925 February 1950Minister of War of the USSRMarshal of the Soviet UnionAlexander Vasilevsky25 February 195015 March 1953Ministers of Navy of the USSRAdmiralIvan Yumashev25 February 195020 July 1951Vice admiralNikolai Kuznetsov20 July 195115 March 1953Ministers of Defense of the USSR Marshal of the Soviet UnionNikolay Bulganin15 March 19539 February 1955Marshal of the Soviet UnionGeorgy Zhukov9 February 195526 October 1957Marshal of the Soviet UnionRodion Malinovsky26 October 195731 March 1967Marshal of the Soviet UnionAndrey Grechko12 April 196726 April 1976Army general →Marshal of the Soviet UnionDmitry Ustinov29 April 197620 December 1984Marshal of the Soviet UnionSergey Sokolov22 December 198430 May 1987Army general →Marshal of the Soviet UnionDmitry Yazov30 May 198729 August 1991Marshal of AviationYevgeny ShaposhnikovРешение Совета глав государств Содружества Независимых Государств от 14 февраля 1992 года о назначении Главнокомандующего Объединенными Вооруженными Силами Содружества29 August 199114 February 1992

Russian Federation (1991–present) PortraitNameTime in officeMinister of Defense of the Russian SFSRColonel general →Army generalKonstantin Kobets20 August 19919 September 1991Ministers of Defense of RussiaФедеральный закон от 31 мая 1996 г. № 61-ФЗ «Об обороне» See Article 13, §§ 1, 2.Boris Yeltsin(acting)16 March 199218 May 1992Army generalPavel Grachev18 May 199218 June 1996Army generalMikhail Kolesnikov(acting)18 June 199617 July 1996Colonel general →Army generalIgor Rodionov17 July 199623 May 1997Army general →Marshal of the Russian FederationIgor Sergeyev23 May 199728 March 2001Colonel generalSergei Ivanov28 March 200115 February 2007Anatoly Serdyukov15 February 20076 November 2012Army generalSergei Shoigu6 November 201212 May 2024Andrey Belousov14 May 2024incumbent

See also List of heads of the military of Imperial Russia

References