The Office of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Управление генеральных инспекторов Министерства обороны Российской Федерации) is a constituent part of the

Russian Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...

Predecessor

The

Group of Inspectors General The Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (), colloquially known as the paradise group, was a body of the Soviet Ministry of Defense established in 1958. A sinecure position for semi-retired senior officers, th ...

of the

Soviet Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defense (Minoboron; russian: Министерство обороны СССР) was a government ministry in the Soviet Union. The first Minister of Defense was Nikolai Bulganin, starting 1953. The Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) was the ...

was established on 12 February 1958 under order No. 037 of

Defence Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Rodion Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (russian: Родио́н Я́ковлевич Малино́вский, ukr, Родіо́н Я́кович Малино́вський ; – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander. He was Marshal of the Sovi ...

, on the basis of decree No. 149-63 of the

Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ɛsɛsɛˈsɛr; sometimes abbreviated to ''Sovmin'' or referred to as the '' ...

on 30 January 1958. This was intended to establish "for use in In the Armed Forces, the accumulated knowledge and experience of marshals, admirals, army generals, colonel generals and some lieutenant generals and vice admirals who have reached such an age when, for health reasons and the prospects for their further use, cannot continue to work with a full load ..." By the late Soviet period it had become a

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval chu ...

position for senior officers. Its numbers were reduced by Defence Minister

Dmitry Yazov Dmitry Timofeyevich Yazov (russian: Дми́трий Тимофе́евич Я́зов; 8 November 1924 – 25 February 2020) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union. A veteran of the Great Patriotic War, Yazov served as Minister of Defence from 1987 ...

in 1988, and it was abolished during the 1992 reforms of Marshal

Yevgeny Shaposhnikov Yevgeny Ivanovich Shaposhnikov (russian: Евгений Иванович Шапошников; 3 February 1942 – 8 December 2020) was a Soviet and Russian military leader and business figure. He was awarded the rank of Marshal of Aviation in ...

. At the time of its abolition it consisted of 53 senior officers.

Establishment

The concept of an organisation in the Defence Ministry to bring together the expertise of retired senior officers was revisited by

Russian Defence Minister The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...

Anatoliy Serdyukov Anatoly Eduardovich Serdyukov (russian: Анатолий Эдуардович Сердюков; born 8 January 1962) is a Russian politician and businessman. He was Russia's Minister of Defense from 15 February 2007 to 6 November 2012, and made ...

, with the signing of directive No. D-31 on 28 April 2008. This envisaged the creation of the Service of Inspectors General, the main task of which was "to promote the organization of combat and operational training of troops, the construction and further development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the development of the theory and history of military art, and the education of personnel." On 26 June 2008 the Defence Minister published order No. 345 "On the Service of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defence", bringing the service into being. In 2011, the Service of Inspectors General was renamed the Office of Inspectors General. The office is located in the at 19 Znamenka, the ministry's administrative building. It includes a library, opened in 2015, containing works by inspectors general. It has been headed since 2013 by General of the Army .

Membership

At its establishment in 2008 the office included former

marshals of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union (russian: Маршал Советского Союза, Marshal sovetskogo soyuza, ) was the highest military rank of the Soviet Union. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in 19 ...

, generals of the army, admirals of the fleet, marshals of artillery, air marshals and

colonel general Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...

s. Total membership is around thirty, changing as members die, and new members are appointed. Though members remain retired from the military during their service, they receive a salary.

References

{{Reflist Ministry of Defence (Russia) Government agencies established in 2008 Military units and formations established in 2008 2008 establishments in Russia