The Government of the Russian Federation exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the Prime Minister (currently Dmitry Medvedev), the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers. It has its legal basis in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the federal constitutional law "On the Government the Russian Federation".

According to the 1991 amendment to the 1978 Russian Constitution, the President of Russia was the head of the executive branch and headed the Council of Ministers of Russia. According to the current 1993 Constitution of Russia, the President is not a part of the Government of Russia, which exercises executive power. The Chapter 6 of the Constitution of Russia says, that "The Government of the Russian Federation consists of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation and federal ministries".

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