The Topographic Service of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Russian: Военно-топографическое служба Генерального штаба Вооружённых сил Российской Федерации) (Russian acronym ТС ВС России) is a formation (special service), special units and enterprises designed to perform geodetic, topographic and cartographic work and provide the forces with topographic maps, geodetic data and other information about the terrain in theaters of military operations.

The origins of the Topographic Service date back to the beginning of the 18th century, when individual officers (or groups) were allocated from the quartermaster units of combined arms headquarters, who were tasked with compiling basic topographic documents (collecting information about the terrain, performing route surveys, etc.).

[2] This body of the central military administration carried out control functions in terms of publishing maps in imperial Russia, and also supervised the conduct of geodetic, topographic and cartographic work carried out in the interests of the Armed Forces and the state, until 1918.

In the Soviet Armed Forces, the Military Topographic Service was part of the staff service, which had its own bodies in the headquarters of formations and operational associations, as well as special units and institutions (topographic, aerial photo-topographic and geodetic detachments, cartographic factories and units, map warehouses, etc.

), which were mainly engaged in the preparation of topographic maps and geodetic data on the territory of probable theaters of military operations (TVD), topographic training of troops and scientific research work in the field of cartography, geodesy and aerial photography.