- published: 02 Dec 2015
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The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (Russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России) exercises operational leadership of the armed forces of Russia.
The Russian Minister of Defence is the nominal commander of all the armed forces, serving under the president of the Russian Federation, in whom executive authority over the military is vested. In this capacity, the minister exercises day-to-day operational authority over the armed forces. The General Staff, the executive body of the Ministry of Defence, implements instructions and orders of the defense minister. The Russian president is the commander in chief. The State Duma exercises legislative authority over the Ministry of Defence through the Government of Russia, which is nominally responsible for maintaining the armed forces at the appropriate level of readiness.
The main ministry building, built in the 1980s, is located on Arbatskaya Square, near Arbat Street. Other buildings of the ministry are located on Vozdvizhenka Street, and on the Frunzenskaya embankment.
A defence minister (or minister of defence) is a person in a cabinet position in charge of a Ministry of Defence, which regulates the armed forces in some sovereign nations. The minister usually has a very important role in a cabinet.
When cabinets first started appearing in the late 18th century, they were often called "Ministers of War" (in the United States of America, "Secretary of War"), who were in charge of the land forces of a nation. Since the end of World War II, the change was made from war to defence, and also often involved putting a single defence minister in charge of all the armed forces. Another common reform which occurred at the end of World War II was to place the defence minister in a national security council or kitchen cabinet which allows the head of government or head of state to coordinate military, diplomatic and economic activities.
The Defence Ministry in some countries is a very important ministry, sometimes considered more important than the foreign minister. It is often assumed by the Prime Minister if war is common for that nation (for example, no less than five Prime Ministers of Israel have held the Defence (Security) Ministry during their Premiership). In many nations, it is the very strong convention that the defence minister be a civilian to highlight civilian control over the military. In less democratic countries, the minister is often a uniformed army official, and in several countries, he will also hold the position of the Armed Forces Commander.
Petrov's Defence (also called Petroff's Defence or the Russian Game) is a chess opening characterised by the following moves:
Though this symmetrical response has a long history, it was first popularised by Alexander Petrov, a Russian chess player of the mid-19th century. In recognition of the early investigations by the Russian masters Petrov and Carl Jaenisch, this opening is called the Russian Game in some countries.
The Petrov has a reputation of being dull and uninspired. However, it offers attacking opportunities for both sides, and a few lines are quite sharp. Often a trade occurs, and Black after gaining a tempo gains a well placed knight. Pillsbury's game in 1895 against Emanuel Lasker testifies to this. The Black counterattack in the centre also avoids the Ruy Lopez, Giuoco Piano (and other lines of the Italian Game), and the Scotch Game. Grandmasters Karpov, Yusupov, Marshall, Kramnik, and Pillsbury have frequently played the Petrov as Black.
The ECO codes for Petrov's Defence are C43 (for 3.d4 exd4 4.e5 Ne4 5.Qxd4) and C42 for all other lines.