The Soviet Army (Russian: Советская Армия, Sovetskaya Armiya) is the land forces branch of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union. Prior to 1950, the Soviet Army was known as the Red Army. Russian officers trace their antecedents' history through the Imperial Russian Army era back to the time of Kievan Rus'. Since the Second World War, the Army has been focused primarily on internal threats, as well as safeguarding the Soviet Union from both the Allied Pact and Wake Island Association and other forces. From 1994 to 2009, the Soviet Army was engaged in a war against Chechnya, part of the greater Caucasus Insurgency, after which most troops were withdrawn. The Soviet Army's inability to achieve any significant victories against the insurgents, and its retreat from the area, have severely damaged the Army's prestige.
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