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Modern 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 / Prussia n, French , English , Dutch and Polish ranks upon the formation of Russian Regular Army in late 1600s . MUSCOVY The rulers of the Kievan Rus entities had no standing army besides permanent group of personal guards, '' Druzhina '' (дружи'на); members of the unit were called '' Druzhinnik '' (дружи'нник). In case of emergency, a Militia was raised from Volunteer s from the Peasantry , and the druzhina served as the core of the troops. The local Knyaz served as the military leader of the troops. Thus there were no need in permanent ranks or positions and they were created randomly, based on the task(s) in hand. Upon the formation of '' Strelets Troops '', the low-level commanding officers were appointed to 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 , 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 EMPIRE During 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-commissioned 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 . 1731-1798 By 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 . commissioned officers of Artillery , Engineer s enjoyed a handicap of 1 grade, and the Leib Guard enjoyed a handicap of 2 grades. 1798-1884 In 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. 1884-1917 In 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 UNION 1917-1925 The October Revolution of 1917 abolished the privileges of the Russian nobility ( Dvoryanstvo ). The Table Of Ranks was abolished and so were personal military ranks. The army and the navy 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'' stood for '' Battalion Commander'', etc. These acronyms have survived as informal position names to the present day. 1925-1935 Personal ranks were not reintroduced until 1935 , and General ranks were restored in May 1940 . The new ranks were based on the military ranks of the Russian Empire, although they underwent some modifications; modified Imperial rank Insignia were reintroduced in 1943 . 1935-1943 1943-1991 In the 1970s, the non-commissioned 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 conscripts only. The table of Soviet military ranks can see in Military Ranks Of The Soviet Union or in the section below (as they were the same as present military ranks of the Russian Federation). RUSSIAN FEDERATION The independent Russia inherited the ranks of the Soviet Union, although the insignia and Uniform was altered a little. The following is a table ranks of the Armed Forces Of The Russian Federation . Russian armed forces have two styles of ranks - all-forces ranks and deck ranks (navy style ranks). All-forces ranks are used by: :1. Ground Forces . :2. Air Force . :3. Strategic Missile Troops (Independent Core). :4. Airborne Troops (Independent Core). :5. Military Space Troops (Independent Core). :6. Naval Infantry ( Marine Corps) and other various shore services of the navy. :7. Militsiya , Internal Troops - under Ministry Of Internal Affairs (MVD) . :8. Federal Security Service (FSB) , Border Guard service of the FSB . :9. Civil Defense Troops, Fire Rescue Service - under Ministry Of Civil Defense And Emergency Situations . Deck ( Navy ) ranks are used by: :1. Navy (Except Naval Infantry and other shore services). :2. Maritime units of the Border Guard Service of FSB. The highest rank for All-forces is Marshal Of The Russian Federation . SEE ALSO LINKS
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