Russia

Russia, or the Russian Federation (Российская Федерация), is a large, independent Eurasian state incoporating forty percent of the land in Europe and most of northern Asia. Following the dissolution of the USSR (Soviet Union) in 1991, Russia elected its first president and embarked on a vast number of reforms including privatization, market & trade liberalization aimed to make the former Socialist state a more progressive nation. Although an attempt was made to retain control over the former Soviet Army and transform it into a unified armed force of the new Commonwealth of Independent States, this idea was ultimately rejected by the former republics resulting in the division of assets and the formulation of a new Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Вооружённые Силы Российской Федерации)

Unlike many of the former Soviet states, the new Russian Armed Forces (Вооружённые Силы Россий, or VSR in romanized letters) retained some symbology of the Soviet Army and continued wearing Soviet uniforms for a number of years. With regards to combat uniforms, changes had already been implemented prior to the breakup of the USSR to make a durable and practical camouflage uniform standard issue to all military personnel. Although older Soviet era camouflage patterns and uniforms continued to be issued and worn by some Russian military personnel for years to come, by 1990 a plan was already in place to issue a completely new camouflage pattern for conventional forces. This design, the 1990 3-TsV or simply VSR pattern did not enter widespread service until 1994, but it did become the first camouflage design to be universally issued to Russian military personnel. The pattern was also adopted by a number of ex-Soviet republics, including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Within a few years, another general purpose camouflage design would be issued, the flora pattern (introduced in 1998), which also populated the armed forces of several former Soviet republics.

Beyond the issue of "general purpose" camouflage, Russia has in fact been one of the most innovative nations in terms of camouflage design, producing a wide variety of unique patterns since 1991, many of which are associated with special units of the VSR or the Ministry of the Interior (MVD). Some of these camouflage designs saw only limited production and distribution, whilst others continue to be worn in one form or another into the present era. This is particularly true of spetsnaz (special operations) units of the Army and Interior Ministry, as well as the multitude of special police and anti-terrorism units.

Russia has also copied or reproduced a number of camouflage designs created in or used by other nations, including the USA, Great Britain, Germany, and Finland.

Russian Armed Forces Camouflage Patterns

• Although developed in the late 1980s, the camouflage designs most commonly known simply as VSR (for Russian Armed Forces) or dubok (little oak) patterns did not enter service until 1991, and then only initially by specialized units such as the Airborne Forces (VDV). By 1994, the pattern was distributed universally to most ground units of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as many units of the Ministry of the Interior. The VSR 3-TsV is a three-color pattern consisting of vertically aligned irregular shapes in two darker colors over a lighter colored field. As with the Soviet TTsKO three-color "woodland" patterns, the number of color variations of the VSR 3-TsV is quite high. Initial production runs released a green and a brown dominant version, but over time quite a number of variants have been documented. Summer and winter weight uniforms, aviation uniforms, and several accessories have been produced in these patterns. The VSR pattern has declined in usage with the Russian Armed Forces since the introduction of Flora pattern in 1998. Illustrated below are several examples we have collected, including a suitably descriptive title assigned to each.

VSR forest (green & reddish-brown)

VSR light forest (grass green & reddish brown)

VSR desert/mountain (brown dominant)

VSR green & brown

VSR olive green

VSR grey