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Categories: Military ranks by country | Imperial Russia | Military of Russia | Military of the Soviet Union | Russian military ranks Russian military ranksModern Russian military ranks trace their roots to Table of Ranks established by Peter the Great. Most of the rank names were borrowed from existing German/Prussian, French, English, Dutch and Polish ranks upon the formation of Russian regular army in late 1600s.
MuscovyThe rulers of the Kievan Rus entities had no standing army besides permanent group of personal guards, druzhina (дру́жина); members of the unit were called druzhinnik (дру́жинник). In case of emergency, a militia was volunteered from the peasants and druzhina served as a core of the troops. The respective knyaz served as the military leader of the troops. Thus, there were no need in permanent ranks or postitions and they were created randomly, based on curent taks. Upon the formation of Strelets troops, the low-level commanding officers were apointed one of the following ranks:
These were not personal ranks and were retained only as long as the officer held the position. For battles, the troops were organized unto temporary high-level units, usually polk (полк, Old Slavonic for group of troops), a regiment commanded by golova (голова́, head) or voevoda (воево́да); these commanding positions were not permanent and did not sustain after the battle. The cossack cavalry units had their own ranks of kazak (коза́к), yesaul (есау́л) and ataman (атама́н); they were not comparable to the strelets ranks. Upon the formation of standing regiments (prikaz, later polk), new ranks were inserted in between of the existing grades: pyatidesyatnik (пятидеся́тник, of fifty men) acting as lieutenant, golova acting as colonel of the regiment (also, tysyatskiy (ты́сяцкий, 'of thousand men'). Later, a polugolova (полуголова́) rank was introduced; eventually golova was renamed polkovnik (полко́вник, regimental commander), and polugolova was renamed podpolkovnik (sub-polkovnik). As usual, voevoda was simply a commander of a large military group and not a rank of any kind. At the same time, the companies of foreign mercenaries were formed; these incorporated foreign ranks of Lieutenant and Rittmeister. They were later changed into New Regiments of the Streltsy Troops and more Western ranks were adopted, including General. Finally, by 1680 the ranks of the New Regiments were unified with Strelets Troops.
Russian EmpireDuring the beginning of 1700s, military ranks were frequently changed by the tsar during efforts to reform the army and create a strong Navy. These many changes were routinely documented into Army's Rules of Engagement since 1716, until they were finally incorporated into the first variant of Table of Ranks in 1722. Comparing to Strelets Troops, a few more non-commisioned ranks were added, the soldier rank was replaced with many speciality ranks and a few more General ranks were added. The naval ranks were created from the scratch. The officers were styled according to their rank as defined by the Table. 1731-1798By 1731, the ranks of both enlisted staff and commissioned/non-commissioned officers were somewhat settled; these ranks survived until the Russian Revolution with only minor adjustements. Captain-Poruchik rank is comparable to Lieutenant Captain. Note that Poruchik can sometimes be styled as Porutchik, as it was originally written by the tsar. Comissioned officers of artillery, engineers enjoyed a handicap of 1 grade, and the Leib Guard enjoyed a handicap of 2 grades.
1798-1884In 1798-1884 timeline, the General ranks were streamlined and a Brigadier was abolished. The Captain-Poruchik rank was reestablished again, this time as Stabbs-Captain. Courious Second Major and Premier Major ranks were united. In 1826, Russian Army adopted shoulder insignia and distinct Cossack cavalry ranks. 1884-1917In 1884, a Major and Captain-Lieutenant ranks were abolished again and the ranks below were shifted several grades up. The latter was not reintroduced until 1909.
RSFSR and Soviet UnionThe October Revolution of 1917 cancelled the privileges of Russian nobility (Dvoryanstvo). The Table of Ranks was abolished and so were the personal military ranks. The army and the navy has returned to a system of positional ranks that were acronyms of the full position names. For example, komdiv was an acronym of Division Commander; likewise kombat was Battalion Commander, etc. These acronyms have survived as informal position names to the present day. The personal ranks were not reintroduced until 1935, and General ranks were restored in May 1940. The ranks were based on Russian Empire military ranks, although they underwent some modifications; the modified Imperial rank insignia was reintroduced in 1943. In 1970s, the non-commisioned officers serving under contract and holding Starshina (Master Sergeant) rank were reassigned to newly-created Praporshchik rank (not to be confused with similarly named Russian Empire rank of commissioned officers); starshina was reserved for draftsmen only. Russian FederationThe independent Russia inherited the ranks of the Soviet Union, although the insignia and uniform was altered a little. The following is a table of Ground Force, Air Force and Naval ranks of the Military of Russia. Russian version is given first, followed by its English transliteration, then by its English translation.
Deck (Navy) ranks are used by:
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