Russian Armed Forces

The Russian Armed Forces (Russian: Вооружённые Силы Росси́йской Федерации,  tr.  Vooruzhonnije Síly Rossíyskoj Federátsii), colloquially referred to as the Russian Army, were the military forces of the Russian Federation, established after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Background
On May 7, 1992, Boris Yeltsin signed a presidential decree establishing the Russian Ministry of Defence and placing all Soviet Armed Forces troops on the territory of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic under Russian control. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is the President of Russia. Leading up to World War III, the Russian military was one of the most powerful in the world.

As the national army, the Russian Armed Forces possessed far more advanced weaponry than the average Russian citizen. Weapons originally used by the army, such as the Kalash, VSV, or the cutting-edge Kalash 2012 are highly prized in the post-apocalyptic world, because of their superior craftsmanship which results in higher reliability, durability, and accuracy compared to metro-made weapons, such as the Bastard.

The Army also possessed a large amount of vehicles and other heavy machinery. During the events of Metro 2033, Rangers use a mobile missile system, believed to be a BM-30 Smerch, that they obtained in an abandoned military installation to destroy the Dark Ones.

Metro Exodus and Metro 2035
In Metro Exodus, during a flashback in "The Dead City", members of the Russian army are seen operating several T-90 main battle tanks and uses them to destroy an entrance to the Novosibirsk Metro. Some of these tanks can be seen in various places on the surface of Novosibirsk. However, by the year 2035, none are operational. Other military vehicles whose wrecks can be found in the games are a BTR armoured personnel carrier, as well as various trucks and off-road vehicles (usually made by Ural and GAZ). OSKOM, a Russian Military unit, took control of the Novosibirsk Metro after the bombs fell. They were wiped out, however, in a civil war that took place 22 years later.

In Vladivostok, a settlement was established around a Russian Navy nuclear submarine by the submarines crew and people who survived the tidal wave that devastated the city, led by Captain Eduard Baranov. As the settlement drew power first from the submarines reactor, and later an onshore power plant constructed by the subs crew, it had a high standard of living compared to other settlements, which attracted bandits. The intervention of Tom, an American arms dealer, and his men stopped the Bandits from taking over the settlement. He soon took control away from Captain Baranov, however, who disabled his submarine and hid in the city ruins.

For 20 years, the people of the Moscow Metro thought that the Russian Armed Forces were wiped out after World War III. During the events of Metro 2035 as well as that of Metro Exodus, however, it was stated that the war between Russian and US armed forces is still going on outside Moscow and even some high-ranking Rangers, like Miller, believed this to be true. For this reason, the Aurora crew were constantly on the lookout after leaving the destroyed capital. No armed forces were encountered, however, even after passing hundreds of kilometres and crossing the Volga river.

The theory about the war still continuing was finally disproven after the crew arrived at Yamantau and found out that the bunker, which was supposed to house the remnants of the Russian government and military high command, is instead inhabited by savage cannibals, as the government never reached the bunker.

Trivia

 * The Russian Armed Forces is one of the world's largest military forces and arms exporters.
 * Although scattered remnants of the Russian Army occasionally appear throughout the Metro Series, particularly in Metro Exodus and some stories of the Universe of Metro 2033, officially the organisation largely ceased to exist as an organised military force following the nuclear conflict of 2013.
 * Some of the older members of the Spartan Rangers, as well as occasionally the leaders of other factions in the Moscow Metro and beyond, served in the Russian Armed Forces before the war and are valued for their military experience.

Gallery
Армия России