ON DEFENCE
V. V. Serebryannikov
The military structures of all countries tend to secrecy and segregation, which is why the presence
of national legislation norms and procedures opposing such a permanent tendency is the visiting
card of a democratic society. Every civilized society has thoroughly detailed legislation related to
matters of state military defence.
The federal law ‘On Defence’ reflects the nature of the transition Russia is experiencing. This
aspect is revealed in the title of the law, which can be interpreted ambiguously. The law does not
consider defence or offence as major types of military activity. It endorses armed defence of the
state against military aggression and is titled according to the Soviet tradition of political
appropriateness to underline the allegedly peaceful character of the military organization of its
society. Nevertheless, the armed forces structure, goals and tasks of the military organization of
society have not changed considerably since ‘Cold War’ times.
Therein, a certain openness of military structures emerged with the introduction of the law. The
general public now has the possibility of receiving reliable information about the composition of
Russia’s armed defence, about its forces and the means engaged in defence, about the authorities
of various state bodies, organizations and citizens in the sphere of defence, as well as about the
main administrative bodies of the military organization of society. There is a complete list of military
structures engaged in defence.
The abovementioned has stopped the uncontrolled expansion of military structures, which
occurred when various ministries and departments which had a minimal, if any, relationship to the
military sphere attempted to form their own ‘pocket armies.’ At the same time, however, omissions
and vagueness of particular provisions in the law allow for an inappropriate use of the state’s
military structures. For example, the engaging of military forces in operations of police organs or for
settlement of internal social and political conflicts, and so on.
The law establishes elements of parliamentary control through the passing of federal laws
regulating the military sphere, the approval of Edicts of the President of the RF with respect to the
introduction of martial law and a state of emergency, the control of allocation of federal budget
means for defence. However, efforts to blur and conceal actual military expenses of the state can
still be traced in other legislative acts of the Russian Federation. At the time of the passing of the
law, civil society institutions were undeveloped in Russia and the legislative act reflects elements of
the weak social control over military structures of the state. The public organizations engaged in
work with military matters are forced to ‘attack’ various organs to obtain any possibility of directing
the military structures of society. The main remedies of such public organizations are noisy
campaigns in mass media and court precedent cases.
The effort to legally divide authorities of the Ministry of Defence of the RF as a political organ for
control of the military organization of the society and of the General Headquarters responsible for
operative management of the Armed Forces of the RF has not been completed. The General
Headquarters still remains subordinate to the Ministry of Defence. This results in the duplication of
their activities and complicated cooperation of all military structures.
The law restricts the activity of political parties in the Armed Forces of the RF. However, this
provision is frequently violated in the course of legislative activities. An example of this is election
campaigns and the participation of political organizations, parties and Russian military personnel.
The same is related to open participation of higher military authorities in various political parties
and organizations.
The law denies the capacity for serious institutions within civil society to effectively influence
military policy. This stems from the fact that the functioning and reforming of Russia’s military have
became the domain of military experts themselves.