On Nov. 13, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree (ukaz) “On the Implementation of the Defense Plan of the Russian Federation for 2021–2025” (hereafter, the Plan), which will officially enter into force on Jan. 1. The Plan – whose history dates back to 1996, when the first post-Communist federal law “On Defense” was formally adopted – has the highest level of classification, and its details are never revealed to the general public. According to Russian experts, such a document typically contains a description of the main external risks and threats faced by the Russian state, and it defines and determines strategic areas for the development of the Russian Armed Forces and the realization/implementation of defense and re-armament programs. Moreover, each Plan presumably contains key provisions pertaining to such issues as the order of mobilization and organization of Russia’s so-called “territorial defense” – an element of Russian defense planning specifically highlighted by the chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, in his articles published in 2013 and 2016.
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This handout picture provided by Host photo agency shows Soviet WWII-era T-34 tanks moving through Red Square during a military parade, which marks the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow on June 24, 2020.
