Question Thread: Russian Army

Hi Kemac, it is a forum rule that members introduce themselves in the members introductions and rules section.

Please take the time to read the rules and post your own introduction thread in the introductions section.

GarryB wrote:Hi Kemac, it is a forum rule that members introduce themselves in the members introductions and rules section.

Please take the time to read the rules and post your own introduction thread in the introductions section.

Sorry. I had been a member for a long time of an older forum which I assumed was this one transferred over. I will do it now

KeMac wrote:Could someone tell me how one rank addresses another superior rank now in the Russian Army? I take it that it is just the straightforward use of the rank itself and not like in Soviet times where "Comrade" would be put before the rank?

Comrade + Rank

Same as in the Soviet Army

But if someone of a higher rank addresses you they can skip the comrade part

flamming_python wrote:

KeMac wrote:Could someone tell me how one rank addresses another superior rank now in the Russian Army? I take it that it is just the straightforward use of the rank itself and not like in Soviet times where "Comrade" would be put before the rank?

Comrade + Rank

Same as in the Soviet Army

But if someone of a higher rank addresses you they can skip the comrade part

Thank you flamming_python

Does anybody know why the Naval Infantry wear either the navy blue Telnyashka or the black Telnyashka?



The black Telnyashka seems to be the "official" colour from what I can gather, but I've seen many pictures of them also wearing the dark blue ones.

I do know that the Naval Infantry is unique in that it is a fully independent branch BUT it is also subordinate to the Navy at the same time.

Would it perhaps be that during Naval parades/operations where the Naval Infantry also participate, that they are obliged to wear the Navy colours?

I've seen that on the rare occasion that tankers also wear black Telnyashkas but I'm sure that's not official dress.

It is also believed that Soviet/Russian submariners wear black Telnyashkas but I have never seen any evidence of that - however - there was instances - so I've read - where they've used the wrong pigment which made the Naval Telnyashkas appear to be black in colour.

George1 wrote:
i think Naval Infantry wear the black and the Navy the dark blue

True but I have seen photos of the NINF wearing black and blue.

Black



Blue

All the Navy wears dark blue telnyashkas

And the Naval Infantry are of course part of the Navy

Mir wrote:

George1 wrote:
i think Naval Infantry wear the black and the Navy the dark blue

True but I have seen photos of the NINF wearing black and blue.

Black

Blue

No, they are the same colour - dark blue

Interesting the presence of a parachute badge, but the naval badge on the shoulders identify them as navy...

GarryB wrote:Interesting the presence of a parachute badge, but the naval badge on the shoulders identify them as navy...

The patch dates back from Soviet times and is the unofficial badge for the Naval Infantry. Still widely used today and I do hope they keep it that way.


The Parachute badge is normally awarded to the recon and air assualt units of the Naval Infantry. Same badge as for the VDV.

GarryB wrote:Interesting the presence of a parachute badge, but the naval badge on the shoulders identify them as navy...

The Naval Infantry does practice its own paradrop exercises

Although I'm not sure which situation they will be used in

flamming_python wrote:All the Navy wears dark blue telnyashkas

And the Naval Infantry are of course part of the Navy

No, they are the same colour - dark blue

Back in the day the Nazis referred to the Soviet Naval Infantry as "black devils" and also "striped devils".



This is a Soviet poster boy wearing black.



This is a modern day guy wearing black.



Most of the time they seem to wear black but I've seen dark blue as well - even from Soviet times.

GarryB wrote:Interesting the presence of a parachute badge, but the naval badge on the shoulders identify them as navy...

The Naval Infantry brigades / regiments include 1 battalion of Air Assault Infantry, hence the para wings.

Mir wrote:

flamming_python wrote:All the Navy wears dark blue telnyashkas

And the Naval Infantry are of course part of the Navy

No, they are the same colour - dark blue

Back in the day the Nazis referred to the Soviet Naval Infantry as "black devils" and also "striped devils".

Most of the time they seem to wear black but I've seen dark blue as well - even from Soviet times.

"flamming python" actually served in the Russian Navy as an FYI to you.

franco wrote:

"flamming python" actually served in the Russian Navy as an FYI to you.

I see FP is from St Petersburg. BIG Naval heritage yes!

The Naval Infantry is something else though - separate branch - including the dress code. You will never see a NINF in this >>


Same goes for the Navy - you will not see them wearing any EMR.

From army-today.ru as an example, but this is confirmed by many other sources as I've already illustrated.

https://army-today.ru/sluzhba/morskaya-pehota

"The field uniform of the Russian Marine Corps looks almost no different from the standard camouflage used by ordinary motorized rifle units. Nevertheless, you can recognize the modern "sea soldier" by the characteristic black beret, introduced in 1963. Another well-noticeable detail is the traditional vest. It can be distinguished from the same element of clothing of airborne soldiers by the color of the stripes – they are black."

So the question remains - why do they sometimes wear Dark Blue?

The Naval Infantry brigades / regiments include 1 battalion of Air Assault Infantry, hence the para wings.

I wonder if that Air Assault Infantry battalion wears blue stripes?

I always used to think the black stripes were naval infantry and MVD interior ministry forces, but in the old days with uniforms it was often a mixed bag and of course most photos of naval personnel were tiny dots on ships, or guys in combat uniform attacking a beach head.

So the question remains - why do they sometimes wear Dark Blue?

Maybe some military bases have extra strong detergent for washing their clothes and the black fades to dark blue...

Mir wrote:

The Naval Infantry is something else though - separate branch - including the dress code. You will never see a NINF in this >>

The Naval Infantry is not a separate branch

It goes like this:

Navy -> Coastal Troops -> Naval Infantry

So I served in another part of the Coastal Troops, and all Coastal Troops have the same camo field dress as the ground army (except that the Naval Infantry specifically has berets instead of caps).
While in terms of parade uniform, the Naval Infantry has its very own all-black one that you can see in the photos. Whereas the rest of the Navy inc. the rest of the Coastal Troops have the same one.

But the telnyashka is the same across the entire Navy - dark blue. And this is confirmed in every single photo you posted, that's what the naval telnyashka looks like. There is no black telnyashka. And I've met my share of Naval Infantry.

flamming_python wrote:

Mir wrote:

The Naval Infantry is something else though - separate branch - including the dress code. You will never see a NINF in this >>

The Naval Infantry is not a separate branch

It goes like this:

Navy -> Coastal Troops -> Naval Infantry

So I served in another part of the Coastal Troops, and all Coastal Troops have the same camo field dress as the ground army (except that the Naval Infantry specifically has berets instead of caps).
While in terms of parade uniform, the Naval Infantry has its very own all-black one that you can see in the photos. Whereas the rest of the Navy inc. the rest of the Coastal Troops have the same one.

But the telnyashka is the same across the entire Navy - dark blue. And this is confirmed in every single photo you posted, that's what the naval telnyashka looks like. There is no black telnyashka. And I've met my share of Naval Infantry.

You are quite correct that the Naval Infantry is part of the Coastal Troops. But as I've said at the beginning, they are unique in that they are subordinate firstly to the MOD and secondly also to the Navy - but that is an unimportant technicality but it does allow them to plan operations independently from the Navy if they need to.



Loose translation of the above:

Country Russia
Subordination Ministry of Defense
It is part of the Navy
Type of military branch
Function Marine Corps

Just a side note : The banner above is the new one. The old one had the St Andrews cross as a back drop. The new one does not.


As far as the Black striped Telnyashka:

I'm afraid I think you are colour blind and/or you did not pay attention to the evidence I posted that very clearly indicates that the Naval Infantry's Telnyashka is black. To say there is NO Black Telnyashka is complete BS.

Here is a dark blue on from the Navy:



See if you can see the difference - if not then I'm afraid you're colour blind  

GarryB wrote:

So the question remains - why do they sometimes wear Dark Blue?

Maybe some military bases have extra strong detergent for washing their clothes and the black fades to dark blue...  

Gary just something about the Telnyashka that you may find interesting - or not

A real Telnyashka (you do get fakes) is not like your regular T-shirt where the colour is normally printed on the fabric. It is all woven material which means - unlike a T-shirt the colours on a Telnyashka will never fade.

Wikipedia.ru is usually a better source than the English counterpart - but there are also other sources that basically confirms this:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Береговые_войска_ВМФ_Российской_Федерации

Direct translation:
The Coastal Troops of the Navy (BV Navy) are a kind of forces of the Navy of the Russian Federation.
They were formed in October 1989 on the basis of independent branches of forces that existed in the Navy: Coastal Rocket and Artillery Troops and the Naval Infantry (Marines), as well as the transfer of formations and units from the USSR Land Forces stationed on the coast to the Navy.

Anyways that will teach me not to ask tough questions!

Mir wrote:
As far as the Black striped Telnyashka:

I'm afraid I think you are colour blind and/or you did not pay attention to the evidence I posted that very clearly indicates that the Naval Infantry's Telnyashka is black. To say there is NO Black Telnyashka is complete BS.

Here is a dark blue on from the Navy:



See if you can see the difference - if not then I'm afraid you're colour blind  

Dude you're the one who's colour blind. They're blue in both cases. Compare the blue stripes on the telnyashka to the black parade uniform.

That in one case you may have a slightly more washed out blue or slightly darker one can be due to wear, or dying defects during production or whatever. Or it could be due to lighting and the contrast of the rest of the picture relative to the blue stripes.

Do yourself a favour Mac, just open up the second pic in Photoshop, check the value of the colour of the stripes using the Colour Picker tool, and report back to me

Yeah, they are both blue. One just looks a darker blue

Dude this argument can carry on forever - so you can believe whatever you want. I think I've offered enough evidence to prove my point.

Blue and Black together;



Previously posted;



Again as I've posted before a quote from:
https://army-today.ru/sluzhba/morskaya-pehota

"The field uniform of the Russian Marine Corps looks almost no different from the standard camouflage used by ordinary motorized rifle units. Nevertheless, you can recognize the modern "sea soldier" by the characteristic black beret, introduced in 1963. Another well-noticeable detail is the traditional vest. It can be distinguished from the same element of clothing of airborne soldiers by the color of the stripes – THEY ARE BLACK."

And if that is not good enough >> a large picture for closer scrutiny



BUT please note that I have said before they do wear Blue as well though the Black is regarded as official.

Lets leave it at that.

Some may find this interesting.

There is a small museum in Kronstadt dedicated to the Telnyashka. There is also a special Day of the Telnyashka. The Russians do love these vests!

A bit about the museum >>
https://pharmateacher.livejournal.com/115163.html?view=311003

The following Telnyashkas are officially used by the military and other services:

From left to right > Navy, Emergency Services, Naval Infantry and combat divers, Border Guards, VDV, Spetsnaz and FSB