The Russian Federation consists of seven Federal Districts: Central, Southern, Northwestern, Far Eastern, Siberian, Urals, and Volga (each of which contains between 6 and 18 federal subjects). These coincide with the Interior Ministry’s preexisting military regions. This system was created in 2000 by the newly elected president, Vladimir Putin, to provide greater oversight of the regions by the federal government and harmonize laws across the federation. Each has a plenipotentiary representative who reports to the president.
Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation. Robert A. Saunders and Vlad Strukov. 2010.