On January 1, 2021, Russia’s Northern Fleet was officially upgraded to the status of a Military District (MD), as part of a reorganization of the overall system of MDs. This marks a significant change to the national organizational structure of the MDs in Russia; and it marks the first major shift away from the concept of reducing and simplifying the number and functions of these, which, since 2010, have also had the status of Joint Strategic Commands (Obyedinennyye Strategicheskoye Komandovanie—OSK). The reform in 2010 reduced the number of Russian MDs from six to four (Western, Southern, Central and Eastern) and subordinated all military units and assets within each MD to the contiguous, respective OSK. In effect, the Northern Fleet has now gained both the status of an MD and OSK, and this may well be a prelude to future organizational modifications within the Russian Armed Forces (Interfax, January 4, 2021).
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