ABSTRACT
This chapter explores civil-military relations in modern Russia and focuses on the civilian control of the military within the executive branch, the effectiveness of legislative oversight of the military, and the place of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and media in civilian control of the military. The military, law enforcement, and security services remain vital instruments of Putin's regime stability and popularity-at the clear expense of democratic civilian control of the military or, indeed, any aspect of the security sector. The character of Russian civil-military relations is not an exception to this rule. Hence, it can be argued that the continuous and purposeful state campaign against independent NGOs has led to further erosion of Russian civil institutions and their capacity for conducting a democratic civilian control of the military. Russia's current civil-military relations involve high military powers and prerogatives with virtually no democratic control and oversight over the military by any other body except the president.
