Portal:Russia/Selected article/16

The Russian Ground Forces (Russian: Сухопутные войска Российской Федерации, tr.: Suhopútnyje vojská Rossíjskoj Federácii) are the land forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. While the Russian Ground Forces in their present form are only fifteen years old, Russian officials trace their antecedents' history through the Imperial Russian era back to the time of Kievan Rus. Since 1992 the Ground Forces have had to withdraw many thousands of troops from former Soviet garrisons abroad, while being extensively committed to the Chechen wars, and peacekeeping and other operations in the Soviet successor states (what is known in Russia as the "near abroad"). Currently, the Armed Forces as a whole are in the middle of a major equipment upgrade, the State Armaments Programme 2007-2015 which is expected to replace 45% of the military inventory in the army and navy. With this significant influx of funding, then defence minister Sergei Ivanov stated that he wanted to exceed the Soviet military in combat readiness. A British CSRC report in May 2007, while noting the increase in funding, compares the speed of change in the Armed Forces to Royal Navy reforms in the early 19th century and predicts no new rise in combat readiness for years.