List of heads of the military of post-imperial Russia

Last updated July 31, 2025

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 Government^[1]
Portrait	Name	Time in office		Chairman of the Provisional Government
	Alexander Guchkov	2 March 1917	30 April 1917	Georgy Lvov
	Alexander Kerensky	5 May 1917	1 September 1917	Georgy Lvov
	Alexander Kerensky	5 May 1917	1 September 1917	Alexander Kerensky

Russian Republic (1917)

Minister of War of the Russian Provisional Government^[1]
Portrait	Name	Time in office		Minister-Chairman
	Alexander Verkhovsky	1 September 1917	25 October 1917	Alexander Kerensky

Minister ofthe Navy of the Russian Provisional Government^[1]
Portrait	Name	Time in office		Minister-Chairman
	Dmitry Verderevsky	1 September 1917	25 October 1917	Alexander Kerensky

Provisional All-Russian Government (1918)

Minister of Warand Navy of the Provisional All-Russian Government
Portrait	Name	Time in office		Prime Minister	Chairman
	Alexander Kolchak	4 November 1918	18 November 1918	Pyotr Vologodsky	Nikolai Avksentiev

Russian State (1918–1920)

Ministers of War of the Russian State
Portrait	Name	Time in office		Prime Minister	Supreme Ruler of Russia
	Nikolai Stepanov	18 November 1918	23 May 1919	Pyotr Vologodsky	Alexander Kolchak
	Dmitry Lebedev	23 May 1919	10 August 1919
	Mikhail Diterikhs	10 August 1919	27 August 1919
	Alexei von Budberg	27 August 1919	5 October 1919
	Mikhail Khanzhin	5 October 1919	4 January 1920
	Mikhail Khanzhin	5 October 1919	4 January 1920	Viktor Pepelyayev

Minister ofthe Navy of the Russian State
Portrait	Name	Time in office		Prime Minister	Supreme Ruler of Russia
	Mikhail Smirnov	18 November 1918	23 May 1919	Pyotr Vologodsky	Alexander Kolchak
	Mikhail Smirnov	18 November 1918	23 May 1919	Viktor Pepelyayev	Alexander Kolchak

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1922)

People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs of the RSFSR
Portrait	Name	Time in office
	Nikolai Podvoisky	10 November 1917	13 March 1918
	Leon Trotsky	13 March 1918	12 November 1923

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)

People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs of the USSR^[2]
Portrait	Name	Time in office		Rank
	Leon Trotsky	12 November 1923	26 January 1925	–
	Mikhail Frunze	26 January 1925	31 October 1925	–
	Kliment Voroshilov	6 November 1925	20 June 1934	–
People's Commissars of Defense of the USSR^[3]
	Kliment Voroshilov	20 June 1934	7 May 1940	Marshal of the Soviet Union
	Semen Tymoshenko	7 May 1940	19 July 1941	Marshal of the Soviet Union
	Joseph Stalin	19 July 1941	25 February 1946	Generalissimo of the Soviet Union
People's Commissars of the Navy of the USSR
	Pyotr Smirnov	30 December 1937	30 June 1938	Army Commissar of 1st rank
	Mikhail Frinovsky	8 September 1938	20 March 1939	Komandarm 1st rank
	Nikolai Kuznetsov	28 April 1939	25 February 1946	Admiral of the fleet
People's Commissar of the Armed Forces of the USSR
	Joseph Stalin	25 February 1946	15 March 1946	Generalissimo of the Soviet Union
Ministers of the Armed Forces of the USSR
	Joseph Stalin	15 March 1946	3 March 1947	Generalissimo of the Soviet Union
	Nikolay Bulganin	3 March 1947	24 March 1949	Marshal of the Soviet Union
	Alexander Vasilevsky	24 March 1949	25 February 1950	Marshal of the Soviet Union
Minister of War of the USSR
	Alexander Vasilevsky	25 February 1950	15 March 1953	Marshal of the Soviet Union
Ministers of Navy of the USSR
	Ivan Yumashev	25 February 1950	20 July 1951	Admiral
	Nikolai Kuznetsov	20 July 1951	15 March 1953	Vice admiral
Ministers of Defense of the USSR
	Nikolay Bulganin	15 March 1953	9 February 1955	Marshal of the Soviet Union
	George Zhukov	9 February 1955	26 October 1957	Marshal of the Soviet Union
	Rodion Malinovsky	26 October 1957	31 March 1967	Marshal of the Soviet Union
	Andrey Grechko	12 April 1967	26 April 1976	Marshal of the Soviet Union
	Dmitry Ustinov	29 April 1976	20 December 1984	Marshal of the Soviet Union
	Sergey Sokolov	22 December 1984	30 May 1987	Marshal of the Soviet Union
	Dmitry Yazov	30 May 1987	29 August 1991	Marshal of the Soviet Union
	Yevgeny Shaposhnikov ^[4]	29 August 1991	14 February 1992	Marshal of Aviation

Russian Federation (1991–present)

Ministers of Defense of Russia^[5]
Portrait	Name	Time in office
	Boris Yeltsin	16 March 1992	18 May 1992
	Pavel Grachev	18 May 1992	18 June 1996
	Igor Rodionov	17 July 1996	23 May 1997
	Igor Sergeyev	23 May 1997	28 March 2001
	Sergei Ivanov	28 March 2001	15 February 2007
	Anatoly Serdyukov	15 February 2007	6 November 2012
	Sergei Shoigu	6 November 2012	12 May 2024
	Andrey Belousov	14 May 2024	incumbent

References

1 2 3 Революция 1917 года в России
↑ Борисов В. А. Высшие органы военного руководства СССР, 1923 −1991 гг.
↑ Чернавин, В. Н. (1990). Военно-морской словарь (in Russian). Военное издательство. p. 269. ISBN 978-5-203-00174-0.
↑ Решение Совета глав государств Содружества Независимых Государств от 14 февраля 1992 года о назначении Главнокомандующего Объединенными Вооруженными Силами Содружества
↑ Федеральный закон от 31 мая 1996 г. № 61-ФЗ «Об обороне» Archived 2018-08-19 at the Wayback Machine See Article 13, §§ 1, 2.

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[:0-1] 1 2 3 Революция 1917 года в России

[bor-2] Борисов В. А. Высшие органы военного руководства СССР, 1923 −1991 гг.

[3] Чернавин, В. Н. (1990). Военно-морской словарь (in Russian). Военное издательство. p. 269. ISBN 978-5-203-00174-0.

[4] Решение Совета глав государств Содружества Независимых Государств от 14 февраля 1992 года о назначении Главнокомандующего Объединенными Вооруженными Силами Содружества

[5] Федеральный закон от 31 мая 1996 г. № 61-ФЗ «Об обороне» Archived 2018-08-19 at the Wayback Machine See Article 13, §§ 1, 2.

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