Contact information  •  History  •  Access & Facilities  •  Bibliography

ArcheoBiblioBase: Archives in Russia: C-04

Last update of repository: 14 March 2020

*Arkhivnaia sluzhba Vooruzhennykh sil Rossiiskoi Federatsii


Previous names
1997–1999   Voenno-istoricheskii tsentr Vooruzhennykh Sil RF
[Military History Center of the Armed Forces]
1991–1997   Istoriko-arkhivnyi i voenno-memorial'nyi tsentr General'nogo Shtaba Vooruzhennykh Sil RF
[Historico-Archival and Military-Memorial Center of the General Staff of the Armed Forces]
History
A Historico-Archival and Military-Memorial Center of the General Staff of the Armed Forces was established in 1991, and in 1997, its name was changed to the Military History Center of the Armed Forces. In 1999 the Center was reorganized as the Archival Service and a separate Military Memorial Center was established.
        The Archival Service supervises the historico-archival work of the Armed Forces. It is responsible for military archives under Ministry of Defense jurisdiction, which maintain records of the Soviet and Russian Army and Navy from 1941 to the present—the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense (TsAMO) in Podol'sk (C–4), the Central Naval Archive in Gatchina (C–5), the Archive of Military Medical Records of the Military Medical Museum (VMM) in St. Petersburg (H–212), and also archives of various types of military forces, fleet, military districts. Since the Archival Service is under the direct authority of the General Staff, the ongoing agency (tekushchii) archive of the General Staff also falls under its jurisdiction. The Center does not, however, control records of the defense intelligence agency, the Chief Intelligence Directorate (Glavnoe razvedyvatel'noe upravlenie—GRU), which are maintained separately. According to the most recent law on intelligence agencies, GRU has increased control over its own records, which are considered a special object of state security. The list of all archives of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation available electronically: http://archive.mil.ru/archival_servic....
        The Center processes official inquiries regarding documents, archival access (especially for foreign researchers), and photocopying. The Center also processes inquiries of a socio-legal nature related to military service in the Armed Forces of the former Soviet Union.
        The separate Military Memorial handles memorial activities of the Armed Forces, usually unrelated to archival functions. It maintains an extensive database with information about military cemeteries, including memorials abroad.


ABB ArcheoBiblioBase Archeo Biblio Base Patricia Kennedy Grimsted