Russian Empire
Though the Empire was only officially proclaimed by Tsar Peter I following the Treaty of Nystad (1721), some historians would argue that it was truly born either when Ivan III of Russia conquered Veliky Novgorod in 1478, or when Ivan the Terrible conquered the Khanate of Kazan in 1552. According to another point of view, the term "Tsardom", which was used after the coronation of Ivan IV in 1547, was already a contemporary Russian word for empire.
Imperial Russian Air Service
The Imperial Russian Air Service (Императорскiй военно-воздушный флотъ, literally "Emperor's Military Air Fleet") was an air force founded in 1912 for Imperial Russia. The Air Service operated for 5 years. It only saw combat in World War I before being reorganized and renamed in 1917 following the creation of Soviet Russia. It formed what would later become the Soviet Air Forces.