Nazi German military unit mostly composed of Soviet defectors in World War II
Russian Liberation Army
General Vlasov and soldiers of the ROA
Active
1942 (unofficially) / 1944 (officially) – 1945
Country
Nazi Germany
Type
Infantry Air force
Size
Corps, 50,000 (April 1945)
Nickname(s)
Vlasovites ("Vlasovtsy")
March
We Are Marching in Wide Fields
Engagements
World War II
Eastern Front
Operation April Wind [ru]
Prague Uprising
Prague offensive
Western Front
Nuremberg
Commanders
Notable commanders
Andrey Vlasov Sergei Bunyachenko Mikhail Meandrov
Insignia
Badge
Flags of the KONR and ROA
Military unit
The Russian Liberation Army (German: Russische Befreiungsarmee; Russian: Русская освободительная армия, Russkaya osvoboditel'naya armiya, abbreviated as РОА, ROA, also known as the Vlasov army (Власовская армия, Vlasovskaya armiya)) was a collaborationist formation, primarily composed of Russians, that fought under German command during World War II. The army was led by Andrey Vlasov, a Red Army general who had defected, and members of the army are often referred to as Vlasovtsy (Власовцы). In 1944, it became known as the Armed Forces of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (Вооружённые силы Комитета освобождения народов России, Vooruzhonnyye sily Komiteta osvobozhdeniya narodov Rossii, abbreviated as ВС КОНР, VS KONR).[1]
Vlasov agreed to collaborate with Nazi Germany after having been captured on the Eastern Front. The soldiers under his command were mostly former Soviet prisoners of war but also included White Russian émigrés, some of whom were veterans of the anti-communist White Army from the Russian Civil War (1917–23). On 14 November 1944, it was officially renamed the Armed Forces of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia, with the KONR being formed as a political body to which the army pledged loyalty. On 28 January 1945, it was officially declared that the Russian divisions no longer form part of the German Army, but would directly be under the command of KONR.
In May 1945, members of the ROA switched sides and joined the anti-Nazi Prague uprising.
^Grasmeder, Elizabeth M.F. (2021). "Leaning on Legionnaires: Why Modern States Recruit Foreign Soldiers". International Security. 46 (1): 147–195. doi:10.1162/isec_a_00411. S2CID 236094319. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
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Nazi Germany
