Uniforms of the Russian Armed Forces

The specific items of uniforms and the equipment used in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation as well as their respective rules are determined by the governing bodies of the forces and ultimately by the Minister of Defence. The current orders in effect with regards to uniforms is:[1][2]

• Order of the RF Ministry of Defence No. 525 of October 9, 2020

Which replaced the following previous orders (in effect from 2015-2020):

• Order of the RF Ministry of Defence No. 300 of June 22, 2015 (for military personnel)
• Order of the RF Ministry of Defence No. 340 of June 27, 2019 (for military personnel of the Navy)
• Order of the RF Ministry of Defence No. 725 of November 8, 2016 (for civil servants of the Ministry of Defence)

The wearing of uniforms is subject to regulations applying not only to those serving in the Armed Forces, but also to pupils of the Suvorov military and Nakhimov naval academies, members of the reserve who have been discharged from active service, and ex-servicemen and women who still have the right to wear a military uniform.

In terms of their design, the uniforms currently worn by the Russian Federation Armed Forces' servicemen are, to a greater or lesser degree, a development of those worn by the Armed Forces of the former Soviet Union and in turn the Russian Empire.

The customary basic colours of black, green, and blue as worn by those serving in, respectively, the Russian Navy, Russian Army, and Russian Aerospace Forces reflect those traditionally worn in earlier periods.

Also in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, there are a number of distinctive uniform designs that were used in the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire. For example, a general view of the girdles and shoulder straps of ceremonial calculations and honour guard units in solemn occasions, such as parades, state and military holidays, meetings of heads of state, meeting of government delegations, usage in solemn ceremonies, and usage in military honours ceremonies. Additionally, cockade design for all headwear acts as a synthesis of that from both the Imperial era and the Soviet Officers, with a gold star which became symbolic in the latter era on top of the ovals colouring & design of the former era. Ceremonial wreathing of the cockade which often appears also has continuity with the Soviet tradition. The ridged outline & size of the cockade has continuity with both eras.

The dominant naval colours are navy blue (for example, flannel, naval working dress suit), and white or black (for example, summer dress and normal dress uniform for officers and foremen respectively).

The green colour of the Ground Forces can in fact mean either:

1. The "wave-green" colour.[3] This serves as the colour of the parade uniform of officers, army bands, and the Alexandrov Ensemble (since 2017). The wave-green colour draws its origins from the 19th and early 20th century Imperial Russian era uniforms in which it was known as "czar green". Following an absence during the early Soviet period, it was restored to all parade uniforms of marshals and generals starting with the 1945 Moscow Victory Parade. Subsequently, the wave-green coloured parade uniforms were introduced to all commissioned & warrant army officers in 1969. In 1994, the colour was abolished once again with the establishment of the distinct uniforms of the Russian Federation. This colour was once officially again restored to all officer & warrant officer ranks of the Ground Forces in 2010 after usage at the Moscow Victory Day Parade since 2008, thus restoring continuity with previous uniforms.
2. The olive colour used by dress & office uniforms. Between 1994 and 2008, the olive-coloured dress uniform served as the everyday, dress, and parade uniform for all ranks. This colour replaced the similar Soviet khaki colour of everyday & dress uniforms for all ranks & parade uniforms for all under-warrant officer enlisted ranks in 1994. In 2013, the olive colour of everyday uniforms became a brighter shade of green with the introduction of the office uniform, so that the colour differences with the previous Soviet khaki colour became even stronger.[4]

The uniforms of the Air Force and Airborne Forces of the Russian Federation and the USSR are traditionally blue. The Air Force command staff wore a blue uniform in the 1920s and 1930s (with interruptions). Pre-war & early Second World War pilots also wore blue. Later in the war, the tunic colouring was reverted to khaki for all ranks, however, the universal breeches colouring of blue applied in parade dress (this also applied the Ground Forces until the M69 uniforms were introduced). From 1955-1957, there was a short-lived revival of the blue tunic colouring for Air Force officers. In 1969 there was a full blue revival for officer parade dress. Apart from this, officer & soldier uniforms were khaki coloured.

On 21 December 1991, the CIS member countries agreed to maintain a unified command of the Armed Forces until they were reformed.

On 11 February 1992, following Commander-in-Chief of the CIS Armed Forces Order No. 50 "On temporary changes in the military uniform for the period 1992–1995", a description was given of "temporary changes" in uniforms. For marshals and generals, a ceremonial cap was introduced, modelled on the everyday, parade uniform-dress uniform, according to the pattern of the everyday jacket, but with ceremonial epaulettes, dressed-out trousers without boots, with edges along the line. It also authorized officer's model caps in the summer everyday form. In May 1992 the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were established.[5]

The hats worn by marshals, generals and colonels were abolished, replaced by astrakhan hat-earflaps of gray color from the fur of tsigeyki (colonels). The edges of the ceremonial uniforms of officers, ensigns, servicemen of the extended service and women servicemen, as well as armor-type arm plates for the latter three categories were abolished. A cockade was introduced for officers, warrant officers, and servicemen of super-long service for everyday and dress uniforms.

Berets for military servicemen and caps for ceremonial dress uniforms of military servicemen were replaced by officer-type pilots. The woollen jackets of marshals, generals, officers, ensigns and servicemen of extra-long-term services replaced button fasteners with zippers, and sewn side pockets closed with zippers.

Marshals, officers, ensigns and servicemen of extra-long service lost their ceremonial belts as well as the leather shoulder strap.

Conscripts and cadets adopted a woollen uniform fitted with sewn epaulets of the same material in place of the parade-out uniform and closed everyday jacket.

The letters "CA" were removed from shoulder straps of service members of urgent service, while the metal letters "K" on shoulder straps of field jackets and everyday cadets was added. Buttonholes were removed from collars of service members and cadets, while the golden emblems on cotton tunics were fastened to collar corners.

The same document introduced changes in generals' uniforms, compared with the 1988 Soviet Army. Sewing on ceremonial caps and uniforms became similar to every day and disappeared from the cuffs (along with the sutured edge on collar and cuffs). Trousers were set to the gray front-and-back tunic, with cuffs, but without lamphas, in the tone of the tunic. Aa cap with a gray crown and colored band.

Since 1994 the field uniform had the special, but unofficial sleeve insignias: the branch of service or the military unit.[6]

The cockade in use from 1994-2006 and again from 2010 (after debuting again at the 2008 Moscow Victory Day Parade)

The cockade in use from 2006-2010.

In 1994, President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree that abolished the Soviet-era uniform and changed military dress for the first time since 1969.[7]

The 1994 uniform reforms included a new universal cockade which had connection to both the Imperial era through the orange & black St George ovals & Soviet-era through the retention of a star. Heraldically, the cockade was not a symbol of the Russian Federation, but rather the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. Thus, it is denoted with departmental not the national affiliation of the serviceman.

In 2006, the cockade was changed to remove the gold star, returning fully to the Imperial design, with plans to roll it out across all troops. This was to be short-lived however, as the 2008 reforms of Valentin Yudashkin returned to the 1994 cockade design.

Ground Forces soldiers taking the military oath in the "office" uniform introduced in 2013. Note the officer on the right in the obsolete open-collar tunic which is currently being phased out.

In November 2012, Sergey Shoygu was appointed the Defence Minister of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. Following his appointment, a number of changes were instituted.

This included the introduction of an entirely distinct "office uniform" in 2013 as a new everyday uniform for officers (of which the prior everyday uniform was a mostly interchangeable with the dress uniform).[8] The office uniform is blue for the Air Force, green for the Ground Forces, and black for the Navy. It includes a zipper jacket, t-shirt, a cap (typically worn by enlisted troops) or peaked cap without the coloured band (typically worn by officers), and the option of wearing combat boots or dress shoes. For the cold seasons, a branch-corresponding coloured jacket was introduced with a snap-on hood with fur lining incorporated.

In 2015, the rules surrounding wearing military uniforms were officially changed. This noticeably included the abolition of parade & dress uniform kit for conscripts[9] & all ranks below that of warrant officer. The office uniform was rolled out to all ranks in 2016 & now serves in the parade & dress roles (with various modifications) for all ranks below that of warrant officer in addition to its everyday capacity. Other changes also included: the removal of the traditional greatcoat for the parade & dress uniforms for all ranks except the honour guards, changing of officer parade/dress tunics to M69 Soviet-style notched lapels instead of peaked lapels, and the return of the M69 Soviet-style button layout for dress & parade uniforms (4 buttons for officers & 6 buttons for generals.[10])

In the 2017 Moscow Victory Day Parade, officers wore a standing-collar tunic which replaced the previous open-collar tunic. The tunic resembles that which was used in the latter years of World War II by the Soviet Union for ceremonial purposes. The officer corps buttonholes as used by both the Soviet officers during this period & Imperial Russia were added onto the tunics. Generals have the standard ceremonial insignia instead of this design. The colour of the Navy ceremonial uniform was also officially changed to pure white, instead of the off-white/cream used before for the summer version of the ceremonial open-collar uniform. Following a trial, the new tunic design was rolled out beginning in 2018[11] to all ranks down to and including warrant officer as the standard parade tunic. In the 2018 Moscow Victory Day Parade, the massed bands included musicians of all ranks had noticeably begun using this uniform (similar to the British practice of military bands wearing full dress uniform during parades). Only the Alexandrov Ensemble continues to use an unregulated open-collar wave-green design instead of the closed-collar variant.

• 
  Ground Forces enlisted troops during the 2012 Moscow Victory Day Parade wearing the former dress uniform.
• 
  Ground Forces enlisted troops during the 2019 Moscow Victory Day Parade wearing a ceremonial version of the office uniform.
• 
  Air Force enlisted troops during the 2012 Moscow Victory Day Parade wearing the former dress uniform.
• 
  Air Force enlisted troops during the 2019 Moscow Victory Day Parade wearing a ceremonial version of the office uniform.
• 
  Ground Forces officers during the 2016 Moscow Victory Day Parade wearing the former open-collar parade uniforms.
• 
  Ground Forces officers during the 2019 Moscow Victory Day Parade with the new parade tunic design & jackboots.
• 
  Air Force officers during the 2016 Moscow Victory Day Parade wearing the former open-collar parade uniforms.
• 
  Air Force officers during the 2019 Moscow Victory Day Parade with the new ceremonial tunic design.

Issued to and typically worn by the servicemen of the 154th Preobrazhensky Independent Commandant's Regiment, this uniform is also worn by troops of other regiments depending on the nature of the occasion. The colours of the uniform are wave-green for the Army, blue for the Aerospace Forces, and black or white for the Navy.

The standard ceremonial honour guard uniform consists of a peaked cap, a standing-collar tunic with a plastron, breeches, and jackboots (swapped with dress pants and shoes for the Navy honour guard). Hot weather seasonal variations include the replacement of the closed-collar tunic with a white shirt-jacket and a black tie. Demi-season ceremonial dress adds a standing-collar greatcoat (grey for army, blue for Air Force, and black for navy). During winter, the greatcoat has an astrakhan collar-lining and the peaked hat is replaced with an astrakhan ushanka.

Typically only assigned to officers (including warrant officers) and service personnel of military bands of the Armed Forces. The colours of the uniform are wave-green for the Ground Forces (except Spetsnaz units), blue for the Aerospace Forces & Spetsnaz units, and black or white for the Navy (depending on the season in which the uniform is used).

The uniform is used for the following occasions:[14]

• Participation in parades and at official events
• On holidays of the military unit
• Upon receipt of state awards
• During a ceremony of presentation of colours within military units and educational institutions
• Upon launching of a ship
• When raising the Navy flag upon the ship
• Enlistment in guards of honour
• While serving as sentries for the protection of the Battle Colour of a military unit.
• Servicemen may also wear this uniform on weekends, outside of work hours

The peaked caps for parade uniforms feature coloured headbands largely based upon the Soviet uniform regulations. Below are the variations for these as well as other uniform colour variations:

Other notable variations of this type of uniform are included in the cockade, type of footwear, and type of tunic.

The wreathed cockade or the ordinary oval cockade are the most common variants, with the former being standard issue for army bandsmen and the latter being the standard issue for officers. The more formal wreathed cockade is also used by officers on special ceremonial occasions like the Moscow Victory Day Parade and maintains continuity through wreath design with the style used by the Pilots throughout the existence of the Soviet Union, the USSR Army Officers from 1958-1969, and the enlisted troops from 1969-1994 (though the latter had a red star instead of an oval within the wreath). Additionally, there is a special wide-wreath cockade design specifically assigned to members of the Alexandrov Ensemble which bears resemblance to the parade cockade used by the officer corps between 1969 and 1994.

Dress shoes are the standard footwear for officers and army bandsmen in both walking-out and in formation variations. For the Ground Forces Officers in formation, this replaced sapogi following the abolition of the Soviet-era uniforms in 1994. Nonetheless, jackboots have returned use for the Ground Forces parade uniform on special ceremonial occasions including the aforementioned Moscow Victory Day Parade from 2019 onwards. Regarding tunic variations, the standard tunic is a standing-collar design, though a special double-breasted open-collar variant is used by the Alexandrov Ensemble and a double-breasted steel-gray open-collar variant is an open for generals.

Walking-out variations include making the officer dress belt & dagger optional.

Medals are worn unless the steel-gray tunic for Generals is worn (in which case medal ribbons are displayed) or the unregulated Alexandrov Ensemble tunic is worn (in which case it is left empty).

Officially "Casual Uniform Option 1", this uniform is a standard-issue uniform for officers (including warrant officers) equivalent to service dress. The colours of the uniform are olive green for the Army, Airborne Forces, Spetsnaz Units, and Space Forces, blue for the other Aerospace Forces sub branches, and black or white (season determinant) for the Navy.

The kit formerly served the everyday, dress, and parade roles for enlisted servicemen until its abolition for these purposes in 2015 due to cost cutting measures. Since then, it is only assigned to officers and warrant officers. Additionally, it served as the sole everyday uniform for officers until being progressively supplanted by the Office Uniform from 2012 to 2015. It is now de facto used for more formal occasions relative to the cheaper Office Uniform though no regulation officially stipulates which is to be used per occasion. De jure, both are equal casual service dress options for officers.

Modelled on the everyday office uniform of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, this kit serves as the regular everyday uniform for both officers and enlisted servicemen. It noticeably features no coloured hat band or epaulettes between branch distinctions which are common in higher-tier uniforms.

With the exception of sporadic issuing of the ceremonial, parade, and dress uniforms to non-warrant officer enlisted servicemen for niche purposes, the office uniform kit is also used for the vast majority of ceremonial purposes by non-warrant officer enlisted servicemen. However, significant variations not covered by the official uniform code exist when used for ceremonial purposes including:

• White parade gloves
• White leather buckled parade belts
• White aiguillettes
• Coloured branch epaulettes
• Branch-distinctive lapel badges
• Pressed-collar buttoned jackets as opposed to the zipper jacket used in the standard office kit
• Berets used as the main headdress as opposed to caps or peaked caps.
• Occasional jackboots for foot columns and colour guards (now increasingly present for infantry troops during the Moscow Victory Day Parade)

These ceremonial variations, with the exception of the headdress and footwear differences, carry over from the now-in-abeyance dress uniform kit which was used for this role.

Russian Navy working uniform.

The VBKO field uniform acts as the primary field/combat uniform which is assigned to all troops who operate in the field.

Ground Forces enlisted kits in common configuration:

• 
  Special Ceremonial Uniform
• 
  Office Uniform (with peaked cap - for contract servicemen)
• 
  Office Uniform (with ordinary cap - for conscripts)

Ground Forces officer kits in common configuration:

• 
  Special Ceremonial Uniform
• 
  Parade Uniform
• 
  Dress Uniform
• 
  Office Uniform
• 
  Field Uniform

Ground Forces General uniform types:

• 
  Sergey Shoigu in dress uniform
• 
  ... closed collar parade uniform (debuted 2017 in the Moscow Victory Day Parade, introduced beginning 2018)
• 
  ... open collar parade uniform (phased out beginning 2018)
• 
  Ruslan Tsalikov in a gray dress uniform.
• 
  ... everyday "office" uniform. Silver piping indicates a civilian employee.