Russian Armed Forces in the context of "Occupied Ukrainian territory"

The Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine are areas of southern and eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War and the ongoing invasion. In Ukrainian law, they are defined as the "temporarily occupied territories". As of 2024, Russia occupies almost 20% of Ukraine and about 3 to 3.5 million Ukrainians are estimated to be living under occupation; since the invasion, the occupied territories lost roughly half of their population. The United Nations Human Rights Office reports that Russia is committing severe human rights violations in occupied Ukraine, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, crackdown on peaceful protest and freedom of speech, enforced Russification, passportization, indoctrination of children, and suppression of Ukrainian language and culture.

The occupation began in 2014 with Russia's invasion and annexation of Crimea, and its de facto takeover of Ukraine's Donbas during a war in eastern Ukraine. In 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion. However, due to fierce Ukrainian resistance and logistical challenges (e.g. the stalled Russian Kyiv convoy), the Russian Armed Forces retreated from northern Ukraine in early April. In September 2022, Ukrainian forces launched the Kharkiv counteroffensive and liberated most of that oblast. Another southern counteroffensive resulted in the liberation of Kherson that November.

The Black Sea Fleet (Russian: Черноморский флот, romanized: Chernomorskiy flot) is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimean Peninsula, are subordinate to the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The fleet traces its history to its founding by Prince Potemkin on 13 May 1783 as part of the Imperial Russian Navy. The Russian SFSR inherited the fleet in 1918; with the founding of the Soviet Union in 1922, it became part of the Soviet Navy. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Black Sea Fleet was partitioned between the Russian Federation and Ukraine in 1997, with Russia receiving title to 82% of the vessels.

The Black Sea Fleet has its official primary headquarters and facilities at the Sevastopol Naval Base, Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The rest of the fleet's facilities are based in locations on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, including Krasnodar Krai, Rostov Oblast and Crimea.

The Operational Group of Russian Forces in Transnistria (OGRF; Romanian: Grupul Operativ al Trupelor Ruse din Transnistria, GOTR; Russian: Оперативная группа российских войск в Приднестровье, romanized: Operativnaya gruppa rossiyskikh voysk v Pridnestrovye, ОГРВ) is a sizable overseas military task force of the Russian Armed Forces. It serves as part of the tri-lateral Joint Control Commission (JCC) in the region with around 350 soldiers provided to the JCC.

1,500 soldiers of the military force are based at the former decommissioned Soviet-era ammunition depot at Cobasna, where it guards around 22,000 tons of military equipment and ammunition. The core of the OGRF consists of 70 to 100 Russian officers, with the rest being Transnistrian locals employed as soldiers. Troops of the OGRF are rotated once every six months.

The Donbas (UK: /dɒnˈbɑːs/, US: /ˈdɒnbɑːs, dʌnˈbæs/; Ukrainian: Донбас [donˈbɑs]) or Donbass (Russian: Донбасс [dɐnˈbas]) is a historical, cultural, and economic region on the Russia-Ukraine border, lying predominantly in Ukraine. The vast majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War, as the Russian Armed Forces control about 89% of the region as of October 2025.

The word Donbas is a portmanteau formed from "Donets Basin", an abbreviation of "Donets Coal Basin" (Ukrainian: Донецький вугільний басейн, romanized: Donetskyi vuhilnyi basein; Russian: Донецкий угольный бассейн, romanized: Donetskiy ugolnyy basseyn). The name of the coal basin is a reference to the Donets Ridge; the latter is associated with the Donets river.

On 11 November 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated and recaptured the city of Kherson and other areas of the Kherson Oblast and parts of the Mykolaiv Oblast on the right bank of the Dnipro River from Russian control. The Russian Armed Forces, which had occupied the city since 2 March 2022, withdrew and retreated to the left bank of the Kherson Oblast over the course of 9–11 November 2022.

The Ukrainian soldiers were greeted with cheers and large celebrations in the city square. The events were the culmination of the 2022 Kherson counteroffensive, and were seen as a large blow to Russian president Vladimir Putin, who had declared Kherson to be "part of Russia forever".

The Russian Ground Forces (Russian: Сухопу́тные войска́ [СВ], romanized: Sukhopútnye Voyská [SV]), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces.

The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, and the defeat of enemy troops.The president of Russia is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces is the chief commanding authority of the Russian Ground Forces. He is appointed by the president of Russia. The Main Command of the Ground Forces is based in Moscow.

The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation, is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. It is the highest office in Russia.

The modern incarnation of the office emerged from the president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). In 1991, Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the RSFSR, becoming the first non-Communist Party member to be elected into a major Soviet political role. He played a crucial role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union which saw the transformation of the RSFSR into the Russian Federation. Following a series of scandals and doubts about his leadership, violence erupted across Moscow in the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis. As a result, a new constitution was implemented and the 1993 Russian Constitution remains in force today. The constitution establishes Russia as a semi-presidential system which separates the president of Russia from the government of Russia which exercises executive power.

The Japan Self-Defense Forces (Japanese: 自衛隊, Hepburn: Jieitai; JSDF) are the military forces of Japan. The JSDF comprises the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. They are controlled by the Ministry of Defense with the Prime Minister as commander-in-chief.

The Japanese Constitution, which was adopted by the Supreme Command for the Allied Powers during the occupation of Japan after World War II, stipulates that Japan will never maintain a military as well as other war potential. However, rising tensions during the Cold War led to the reinterpretation of the constitution to allow for the right to self-defense, eventually leading to the creation of the Japan Self-Defense Forces in 1954 that functions as the country's de facto military. Since the end of the Cold War, and particularly into the 21st century, increased tensions with China, North Korea, and Russia have reignited debate over the status of the JSDF and their relationship to Japanese society. The JSDF have maintained a close alliance with the United States, and have prioritized greater cooperation and partnership with Australia, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and NATO, as well as acquiring new equipment and hardware.

The Russian Space Forces (Russian: Космические войска России, romanized: Kosmicheskie voyska Rossii, KV) is the space force branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces. It was reestablished following the 1 August 2015 merger between the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces, after the independent arm of service was dissolved in 2011.

Formed on 10 August 1992 alongside the creation of the Russian Armed Forces, the Russian Space Forces was the first independent space force in the world. The organization shared control of the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Roscosmos, the Federal Space Agency. It also operated the Plesetsk and the Svobodny Cosmodromes. However the Russian Space Forces was dissolved in July 1997 and incorporated into the Strategic Missile Forces.

On 6 August 2024, during the Russo-Ukrainian war, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched an incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast and clashed with the Russian Armed Forces and Russian border guard. A state of emergency was declared in Kursk Oblast, and Russian reserves were rushed to the area. By the end of the first week, the Ukrainian military said it had captured 1,000 km (390 sq mi) of Russian territory, while Russian authorities acknowledged that Ukraine had captured 28 settlements.

In the second half of August the front stabilized, and in early October, the Ukrainian advance had stalled. From November, North Korean forces were sent to the province to support the Russian military. By the end of that month, Russian forces recaptured around half of the territory Ukraine had occupied. By 11 March 2025, most of the Ukrainian forces appeared to have retreated as a result of a Russian counterattack. Russian troops entered Sudzha, around which a shrinking pocket of territory still controlled by Ukraine had formed, the next day.

Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, primarily the People's Militias of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), were pro-Russian paramilitaries in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. They were under the overall control of the Russian Federation. They were also referred to as Russian proxy forces. They were active during the war in Donbas (2014–2022), the first stage of the Russo-Ukrainian War. They then supported the Russian Armed Forces against the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the 2022 Russian invasion. In September 2022, Russia annexed the DPR and LPR, and began integrating the paramilitaries into its armed forces. They are designated as terrorist groups by the government of Ukraine.

The separatist paramilitaries were formed during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. The Donbas People's Militia was formed in March 2014 by Pavel Gubarev, who proclaimed himself "People's Governor" of Donetsk Oblast, while the Army of the South-East was formed in Luhansk Oblast. The Donbas war began in April 2014 after these groups seized Ukrainian government buildings in the Donbas, leading the Ukrainian military to launch its Anti-Terrorist Operation against them.

On 24 February 2022, the Russian military invaded Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine from Russian-occupied Crimea, quickly entering Mykolaiv Oblast and Zaporizhzhia Oblast amid battles with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Elements from the southern Russian offensive joined forces with elements advancing from the Donbas to jointly surround and bombard the city of Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast, which fell after months of siege.

The Russian Navy 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, and most of its traditions were established personally by Peter I.

The Order of the Red Banner Southern Military District (Russian: Южный военный округ, romanized: Yuzhnyy voyennyy okrug) is a military district of Russia.It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the North Caucasus region of the country, and Russian bases in South Caucasian post-Soviet states. The Southern Military District was created as part of the 2008 military reforms, and founded by Presidential Decree №1144 signed on September 20, 2010, to replace the North Caucasus Military District, and absorbing the military commands of the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla. The district began operation on October 22, 2010, under the command of Colonel-General Aleksandr Galkin.

The Southern Military District is the smallest military district in Russia by geographic size. The district contains 13 federal subjects of Russia: Adygea, Astrakhan Oblast, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnodar Krai, North Ossetia-Alania, Rostov Oblast, Stavropol Krai and Volgograd Oblast. After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine was launched on 24 February 2022, six oblasts of Ukraine, partially occupied by Russia, were announced as being added to the district: the Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Sevastopol and Zaporozhye. These territories are components of Ukraine which since early 2022 have been partially or fully militarily occupied by Russian military forces.

The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN RF) is a separate combat arm of the Russian Armed Forces that controls Russia's land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). It was formerly part of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1959 to 1991.

The Strategic Rocket Forces was created on 17 December 1959 as part of the Soviet Armed Forces as the main force for operating all Soviet nuclear ground-based intercontinental, intermediate-range ballistic missile, and medium-range ballistic missile with ranges over 1,000 kilometers. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, assets of the Strategic Rocket Forces were in the territories of several new states in addition to Russia, with armed nuclear missile silos in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. On 8 December 1991 according to Belovezha Accords, which dissolved the Soviet Union, the other 3 nuclear member states transferred Soviet missiles on their territory to Russia and they all joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1922) and the Soviet Union (1922–1991) from their beginnings in the Russian Civil War of 1917–1923 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In May 1992, Russian president Boris Yeltsin issued decrees forming the Russian Armed Forces, which subsumed much of the Soviet Armed Forces. Multiple sections of the former Soviet Armed Forces in the other, smaller Soviet republics gradually came under those republics' control.

According to the all-union military service law of September 1925, the Soviet Armed Forces consisted of the Red Army, the Air Forces, the Navy, the State Political Directorate (OGPU), and the convoy guards. The OGPU was later made independent and amalgamated with the NKVD in 1934, and thus its Internal troops were under the joint management of the Defence and Interior Commissariats. In 1989, the Soviet Armed Forces consisted of the Strategic Rocket Forces, the Ground Forces, the Air Defence Forces, the Air Forces, and the Navy, listed in their official order of importance.

The Minsk agreements were a series of international agreements which sought to end the Donbas war fought between armed Russian separatist groups and Armed Forces of Ukraine, with Russian regular forces playing a central part. After a defeat at Ilovaisk at the end of August 2014, Russia forced Ukraine to sign the first Minsk Protocol, or the Minsk I. It was drafted by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, consisting of Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), with mediation by the leaders of France (François Hollande) and Germany (Angela Merkel) in the so-called Normandy Format.

After extensive talks in Minsk, Belarus, the agreement was signed on 5 September 2014 by representatives of the Trilateral Contact Group and, without recognition of their status, by the then-leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). This agreement followed multiple previous attempts to stop the fighting in the region and aimed to implement an immediate ceasefire.