The Central Armed Forces Museum started its life as an exhibition on the Life of the Red Army and Fleet in 1920. Over the decades the museum has been renamed many times and has been located in several locations. It has been in its current specially-constructed building since 1965 when it was known as the Central Soviet Army Museum. It gained its present name in 1993. The museum is a treasure house of Soviet military items and technology, dating from the Revolution, the Second World War, the Cold War and more recently the Soviet-Afghan War and the Wars in Chechnya. Larger military equipment is on display outside the museum and in front of the museum are several monuments.

Memorial to the Crew of the Kursk Submarine

On 12 August 2000 the Kursk nuclear submarine sunk in the Barents Sea after a fuel leak caused an explosion on board. All 118 crew members died in the tragedy and the government's response was widely criticised. This memorial to the sailors was unveiled on the second anniversary of the tragedy in 2002 and depicts a mourning submariner standing in front of a model of the Kursk.

Paratroopers Monument

This monument was unveiled in 2002 and is dedicated to paratroopers who lost their lives fulfilling their duties. The monument includes sculptures of two paratroopers standing next to a banner topped with the Russian double-headed eagle. Russian paratroopers are also celebrated with their own special day - Paratroopers Day which falls on 2 August. It is traditional on this day to see groups of Russian paratroopers in their striped shirts and blue berets drinking around the city and often jumping into fountains!

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