Russian Navy

This article is about the modern navy formed in 1992. For the navy from 1917 to 1991, see Soviet Navy. For the navy prior to 1917, see Imperial Russian Navy. For a history of all Russian navies, see History of the Russian Navy.

Russian Navy
  • Военно-морской флот Российской Федерации
  • Voyenno-morskoy flot Rossiyskoy Federatsii
Emblem of the Russian Navy
Active
  • 1696–1917
  • 1992–present[1]
CountryRussia
BranchNavy
Size160,000 active duty (2023)[2]
Approx. 370 active ships[3]
Part ofArmed Forces of the Russian Federation
HeadquartersAdmiralty building, Saint Petersburg
Motto(s)"С нами Бог и Андреевский флаг!" (God and St. Andrew's flag are with us!)
March
  • Quick – "Экипаж—одна семья" (English: The Crew—One Family)
  • Slow – "Гвардейский встречный марш Военно-морского флота" (English: Slow March of the Guards of the Navy)
AnniversariesNavy Day (last Sunday in July)
Submariner's Day (19 March)
Surface Sailor's Day (20 October)
Fleet1 aircraft carrier (inactive)
2 battlecruisers
2 cruisers
10 destroyers
11 frigates
80 corvettes
11 landing ship tanks
60 landing craft
18 special-purpose ships
4 patrol ships
56 patrol boats
45 mine countermeasures vessels
8 special-purpose submarines
65 active ballistic missile/cruise missile and attack submarines[4]
Engagements
Websitestructure.mil.ru/structure/forces/navy.htm Edit this at Wikidata
Commanders
Commander-in-ChiefAdmiral Aleksandr Moiseyev (acting)[5]
First Deputy Commander-in-ChiefAdmiral Aleksandr Nosatov
Deputy Commander-in-ChiefVice-Admiral Vladimir Kasatonov
Insignia
Ensign
Jack
Pennant
Patch
Middle Emblem
Insignia

The Russian Navy[a] is the naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had itself succeeded the Soviet Navy following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late December 1991).

The Imperial Russian Navy was established by Peter the Great (Peter I) in October 1696. The symbols of the Russian Navy, the St. Andrew's ensign (seen to the right), and most of its traditions were established personally by Peter I.

The Russian navy possesses the vast majority of the former Soviet naval forces, and currently comprises the Northern Fleet, the Pacific Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet, the Baltic Fleet, the Caspian Flotilla, the permanent task force in the Mediterranean, Naval Aviation, and the Coastal Troops (consisting of the Naval Infantry and the Coastal Missile and Artillery Troops).

The Russian navy suffered severely with the collapse of the Soviet Union due to insufficient maintenance, lack of funding, and subsequent effects on the training of personnel and timely replacement of equipment. Another setback was attributed to Russia's domestic shipbuilding industry, which was in decline due to the absence of modern hardware and technology.

In 2013, a rise in gas and oil prices enabled a sort of renaissance of the Russian Navy due to increased available funds, which may have allowed Russia to begin "developing the capacity to modernize".[6] In August 2014, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russian naval capabilities would be bolstered with new weapons and equipment within the next six years in response to the enlargement of NATO and the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War.[7][needs update]

As of September 2024 the non-operational aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is the Russian Navy's only carrier leaving the Russian Navy without an operational aircraft carrier. Further, reports that the Admiral Kuznetsov's crew of ca. 1500 has been reassigned to the Russian Army for combat duty in Ukraine indicates that there is no plan to make the Russian Navy a carrier navy again.[8]

  1. ^ "History of the Russian Navy". Russian Navy. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Russian Armed Forces: Military Modernization and Reforms" (PDF). 20 July 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 August 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  3. ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies: The Military Balance 2014, p. 185.
  4. ^ Mizokami, Kyle (19 April 2018). "Here Are All the Submarines of the Russian Navy in One Infographic". Popular Mechanics. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Russia confirms naval chief replaced after Black Sea failures". CNN. 19 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  6. ^ Fedyszyn, Thomas R. (March 2012). "Renaissance of the Russian Navy?". Proceedings. Vol. 138, no. 3/1, 309. United States Naval Institute. ISSN 0041-798X. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Russia vows naval expansion to counter NATO; move in response to Ukraine tensions" Archived 21 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Washington Times (20 August 2014)
  8. ^ Axe, David (22 September 2024). "The Kremlin Pulled Sailors Off The Decrepit Aircraft Carrier 'Admiral Kuznetsov' And Sent Them To Fight, And Die, In Ukraine". forbes.com. Retrieved 24 October 2024.


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