Poland and East Germany remained loyal to the pre-war uniform and ranks style out of the Warsaw block countries. Albania kept the Soviet-based system until 1966 when ranks and insignia were abolished completely. Romania retained the Soviet-based system of ranks until the 1989 revolution. Outside the Warsaw Alliance, the Soviet system of ranks and insignia influenced those in the following countries: China (before 1958 and after 1988), East Turkestan (unrecognized, part of China), North Korea, Vietnam (with stripes horizontal rather than vertical), Laos (senior officers have a thick stripe instead of two thin stripes), Kampuchea (1979–1993), Afghanistan (senior officers have horizontal stripes instead of vertical), South Yemen (1985–1990), Mongolia, and Cuba (the latter two countries slightly changed designs in the post-Soviet times, but the Soviet patterns are still easy to recognize). In Africa, pro-Soviet regimes in Burkina Faso (under Thomas Sankara) and Mozambique (under Samora Machel) used Soviet-style insignia but abandoned them when political trends changed. Currently, Congo, Ethiopia, and Eritrea still retain the Soviet-based system of ranks with slightly changed designs (officers have horizontal stripes rather than vertical). Post-Soviet countries mostly retained the Soviet-based system of ranks and insignia, except for the Baltic States (they restored their pre-Soviet rank systems), Azerbaijan (which wanted to make its uniforms and ranks prominently different from Armenian), Georgia, and Ukraine (Soviet-style designs were used before 2003 and 2016 in both Georgia and Ukraine respectively). See also Army ranks and insignia of the Russian Federation Air Force ranks and insignia of the Russian Federation Naval ranks and insignia of the Russian Federation History of Russian military ranks Military ranks of Ukraine References Citations Sources External links Anatomy of Army, Russian SOVIET MILITARIA, sells Soviet ranking insignia, etc. Military of the Soviet Union Soviet Union