The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,[note 1] formerly the Main Intelligence Directorate,[note 2] and still commonly known by its previous abbreviation GRU,[note 3] is the foreign military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. GRU controls the military intelligence service and maintains its own special forces units.
Unlike Russia´s other security and intelligence agencies—such as the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the Federal Security Service (FSB), and the Federal Protective Service (FSO), whose heads report directly to the president of Russia —the director of the GRU is subordinate to the Russian military command, reporting to the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the General Staff.