This term has other meanings as well. Roa.

Russian liberation army
General Vlasov inspects ROA soldiers
Years of existence
Subordination	Third Reich (1943-1944) KONR (1944-1945)
	Military establishment
Includes	infantry, air force, cavalry, auxiliaries
Function	opposition to the regular units of the Red Army
population	120-130 thousand (April 1945)
Nickname	"Vlasov"
March	"we go wide fields"
Equipment	German and Soviet captured weapons
Participation in	The Second World War: Eastern front Operation April Wind Prague operation
Marks of Excellence	Sleeve badge
commanders
Notable commanders	Commander-in-Chief: A. A. Vlasov (since January 28, 1945) S. K. Bunyachenko, G. A. Zverev, V. I. Maltsev

Russian Liberation Army, ROA- the historically established name of the armed forces of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (KONR), who fought on the side of the Third Reich against the USSR, as well as the totality of the majority of Russian anti-Soviet units and subunits from Russian collaborators in the Wehrmacht in 1943-1944, mainly used at the level of individual battalions and companies, and formed by various German military structures (headquarters of the SS Troops, etc.) during the Great Patriotic War.

About 800,000 people wore insignia of the Russian Liberation Army (sleeve badge) at different times, but only a third of this number was recognized by the leadership of the ROA as actually belonging to their movement. Until 1944, the ROA did not exist as any specific military formation, but was mainly used by the German authorities for propaganda and recruiting volunteers for service. The 1st division of the ROA was formed on November 23, 1944, a little later other formations were created, and at the beginning of 1945 other collaborationist formations were included in the ROA.

The army was formed in the same way as, for example, the North Caucasian Sonderverband Bergmann, the Georgian Legion of the Wehrmacht, - mainly from Soviet prisoners of war or from among emigrants. Unofficially, the Russian Liberation Army and its members were called "Vlasovites", after the name of their leader, Lieutenant General Andrei Vlasov.

Story

The Russian Liberation Army was formed mainly from Soviet prisoners of war who were captured by the Germans. On December 27, 1942, Lieutenant General A. A. Vlasov and General V. G. Baersky, in a letter to the German command, proposed organizing a ROA. The army was declared as a military formation created to "liberate Russia from communism." Based on propaganda considerations, the leadership of the Third Reich announced this initiative in the media, however, without doing anything organizationally. From that moment on, all soldiers of Russian nationality in the structure of the German army could consider themselves servicemen of the Russian Liberation Army, which, however, existed then only on paper.

The formation of the ROA units began in 1943, they were involved in the security and police service and the fight against partisans in the occupied territory of the USSR.

According to the regulation on volunteers issued on April 29, 1943 by the Chief of the General Staff of the OKH, Major General K. Zeitzler, all volunteers of Russian nationality were formally united in the Russian Liberation Army.

General F. I. Trukhin was appointed chief of staff, General V. G. Baersky (Boyarsky) was appointed his deputy, Colonel A. G. Neryanin was appointed head of the operational department of the headquarters. The leaders of the ROA also included generals V.F. Malyshkin, D. E. Zakutny, I. A. Blagoveshchensky, former brigade commissar G. N. Zhilenkov. The rank of general of the ROA was held by a former major of the Red Army and a colonel of the Wehrmacht, I. N. Kononov. Some priests from the Russian emigration served in the field churches of the ROA, including priests A. N. Kiselev and D. V. Konstantinov. One of the authors of a number of program documents of the Vlasov movement was the journalist M. A. Zykov.

Captain V.K. Shtrik-Shtrikfeldt, who served in the German army, did a lot to create the ROA.

Among the leadership of the ROA were former generals of the civil war in Russia from the White movement: V. I. Angeleev, V. F. Belogortsev, S. K. Borodin, colonels K. G. Kromiadi, N. A. Shokoli, Lieutenant Colonel A. D. Arkhipov, as well as M. V. Tomashevsky, Yu. K. Meyer, V. Melnikov, Skarzhinsky, Golub and others, as well as Colonel I. K. Sakharov (former lieutenant of the Spanish army, General F. Franco). Support was also provided by Generals A.P. Arkhangelsky, A. A. fon Lampe, A.M. Dragomirov, P. N. Krasnov, N. N. Golovin, F. F. Abramov, E. I. Balabin, I. A. Polyakov, V. V. Kreiter, Don and Kuban chieftains, Generals G. V. Tatarkin and V. G. Naumenko . One of the adjutants of General A. A. Vlasov was a member of the NTS L. A. Rar.

However, there were serious disagreements between the former Soviet prisoners of war and white emigrants, and the "whites" were gradually ousted from the leadership of the ROA. Most of them served in other Russian volunteer formations not associated with the ROA (only a few days before the end of the war formally attached to the ROA) - the Russian Corps, the brigade of General A. V. Turkula in Austria, the 1st Russian National Army, the Varyag regiment of Colonel M. A. Semyonov, a separate regiment of Colonel Krzhizhanovsky, as well as in Cossack formations (15th Cossack Cavalry Corps and Cossack Stan).

The practical creation of the ROA began only after the establishment of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (KONR), which was formed in Prague on November 14, 1944. The Committee, equivalent to the government in exile, established the Armed Forces of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (AF KONR), which the ROA became. She had her own command and all branches of the military, including a small air force. General Vlasov, as Chairman of the Committee, became at the same time Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, which de jure and de facto constituted a completely independent Russian national army, connected with the Third Reich only by allied relations. It was financed by the ROA by the Ministry of Finance of the Third Reich. The money was issued as a loan, reimbursable "as far as possible", and was not included in the budget of the Third Reich. On January 28, 1945, the ROA received the status of the armed forces of an allied power that remains neutral in relation to the United States and Great Britain.

After the victory of the USSR and the occupation of Germany, most of the members of the ROA were transferred to the Soviet authorities. Some of the "Vlasovites" managed to escape punishment from the Soviet authorities and escape to Western countries.

Compound

Order of General Vlasov, aimed at combating the arbitrariness of commanders in the ROA.

By April 22, 1945, the Armed Forces of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia included the following formations, units and subdivisions:

Commander-in-Chief, a group of officers of personal subordination (Colonel K. G. Kromiadi, Lieutenant Colonel M.K. Meleshkevich, Captain R.L. Antonov, Lieutenant V.A. Reisler, etc.), personal security company of Captain P.V. Kashtanov ;

1st Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the KONR, Major General S.K. Bunyachenko, fully armed and equipped (about 20,000 people);

2nd Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the KONR, Major General G. A. Zverev, the personnel were armed with automatic weapons up to and including machine guns, there were no heavy weapons (11856 people);

The 3rd infantry division of the Armed Forces of the KONR, Major General M. M. Shapovalov, had only a cadre of volunteers, unarmed (10,000 people);

Air Force, Major General V. I. Maltsev (more than 5,000 people);

Training reserve brigade of Colonel S. T. Koida (7000 people)

Russian Corps of Lieutenant General B. A. Shteifon (5584 people);

15th Cossack Cavalry Corps (32,000 men, excluding Germans);

Separate corps of Major General A. V. Turkul (about 7000 people);

A separate Cossack corps in northern Italy (Cossack Stan) of the Marching Ataman, Major General T. I. Domanov (18395 people);

Separate anti-tank brigade of major Vtorov (1240 people);

Auxiliary (technical) troops directly subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief (about 10,000 people);

The central headquarters of Major General F.I. Trukhin, the officer reserve at the headquarters of Lieutenant Colonel G.D. Belaya, a separate cavalry squadron of Captain Tishchenko, a battalion of guards of the headquarters of Captain A.P. pers.);

1st Joint Officer School of the Armed Forces of the KONR, Major General M. A. Meandrov (785 people);

Bratislava reconnaissance school of the Armed Forces of the KONR, Major S. N. Ivanov;

Marienbad reconnaissance school of the Armed Forces of the KONR captain R. I. Becker;

Control Cossack troops with KONR;

In total, these formations, according to various sources, numbered about 120-130 thousand people .. These formations were scattered over a large section of the front from Zagreb (Croatia) and Tolmezzo (northern Italy) to Bad Schandau (southwest of Dresden).

The history of the creation, existence and destruction of the so-called Russian Liberation Army under the command of General Vlasov is one of the darkest and most mysterious pages of the Great Patriotic War.

First of all, the figure of its leader is amazing. Nominee N.S. Khrushchev and one of the favorites of I.V. Stalin, lieutenant general of the Red Army, Andrey Vlasov was taken prisoner on Volkhov front in 1942.

Leaving the encirclement with the only companion - the cook Voronova, in the village of Tukhovezhi, he was given to the Germans by the local headman for a reward: a cow and ten packs of makhorka.

Almost immediately after being imprisoned in a camp for senior military near Vinnitsa, Vlasov goes to cooperate with the Germans.

Soviet historians interpreted Vlasov's decision as personal cowardice. but mechanized corps Vlasov in the battles near Lvov proved to be very good.

The 37th Army under his leadership in the defense of Kiev too. By the time of his capture, Vlasov had the reputation of one of the main saviors of Moscow. He did not show personal cowardice in battles.

Later, a version appeared that he was afraid of punishment from Stalin. However, leaving the Kiev Cauldron, according to Khrushchev, who was the first to meet him, he was in civilian clothes and was leading a goat on a rope. No punishment followed, moreover, his career continued.

In favor of the latest version, for example, Vlasov's close acquaintance with the repressed in 1937-38 speaks. the military. Blucher, for example, he replaced as an adviser to Chiang Kai-shek.

In addition, his immediate superior before the capture was Meretskov, the future marshal, who was arrested at the beginning of the war in the case of "heroes", gave confessions, and was released "on the basis of instructions from the directive bodies for reasons of special order."

And yet, at the same time as Vlasov, the regimental commissar Kernes, who went over to the side of the Germans, was kept in the Vinnitsa camp.

The commissar went out to the Germans with a message about the presence in the USSR of a deeply conspiratorial group. Which covers the army, the NKVD, Soviet and party organs, and stands on anti-Stalinist positions.

A high-ranking official of the German Foreign Ministry Gustav Hilder came to meet with both of them. documentary evidence of two latest versions does not exist.

But let's go back directly to the ROA, or, as they are often called "Vlasovites." You should start with the fact that the prototype and the first separate "Russian" unit on the side of the Germans was created in 1941-1942. Bronislav Kaminsky Russian Liberation People's Army- RONA. Kaminsky, born in 1903 to a German mother and a Pole father, was an engineer before the war and served time in the Gulag under Article 58.

Note that during the formation of RONA, Vlasov himself still fought in the ranks of the Red Army. By the middle of 1943, Kaminsky had 10,000 fighters, 24 T-34 tanks and 36 captured guns under his control.

In July 1944, his troops showed particular cruelty in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising. On August 19 of the same year, Kaminsky and his entire headquarters were shot by the Germans without trial or investigation.

Around the same time as RONA, the Gil-Rodionov squad was created in Belarus. Lieutenant Colonel of the Red Army V.V. Gil, acting under the pseudonym Rodionov, in the service of the Germans created the Fighting Union of Russian Nationalists and showed considerable cruelty against Belarusian partisans and local residents.

However, in 1943 he switched from for the most part BSRN on the side of the red partisans, received the rank of colonel and the Order of the Red Star. Killed in 1944.

In 1941, the Russian National People's Army, also known as the Boyarsky Brigade, was created near Smolensk. Vladimir Gelyarovich Boersky ( real name) was born in 1901 in the Berdichevsky district, it is believed that in a Polish family. In 1943 the brigade was disbanded by the Germans.

From the beginning of 1941, the formation of detachments of people calling themselves Cossacks was actively going on. Quite a lot of different divisions were created from them. Finally, in 1943, the 1st Cossack division was created under the leadership of a German colonel von Pannwitz.

She was thrown into Yugoslavia to fight the partisans. In Yugoslavia, the division worked closely with the Russian Security Corps, created from white emigrants and their children. It should be noted that in Russian empire the Cossack estate included, in particular, the Kalmyks, and abroad, all emigrants from the Empire were considered Russians.

Also in the first half of the war, formations subordinate to the Germans from representatives of national minorities were actively formed.

The idea of ​​​​Vlasov about the formation of the ROA as the future army of Russia liberated from Stalin, Hitler, to put it mildly, did not cause much enthusiasm. The head of the Reich did not need an independent Russia at all, especially having its own army.

In 1942-1944. The ROA as a real military formation did not exist, but was used for propaganda purposes, to recruit collaborators.

Those, in turn, were used by separate battalions mainly to perform security functions and fight partisans.

Only at the end of 1944, when Hitler's command there was simply nothing to plug the gaps in the defense with, the go-ahead was given to the formation of the ROA. The first division was formed only on November 23, 1944, five months before the end of the war.

For its formation, the remnants of the units disbanded by the Germans and battered in battles that fought on the side of the Germans were used. As well as Soviet prisoners of war. Few people looked at nationality here.

The deputy chief of staff Boersky, as we have already said, was a Pole, the head of the combat training department, General Asberg, was an Armenian. Great help the formation was provided by Captain Shtrik-Shtrikfeld. As well as figures of the white movement, such as Kromiadi, Chocoli, Meyer, Skorzhinsky and others. The rank and file, in the circumstances, most likely, no one checked for nationality.

By the end of the war, the ROA formally numbered from 120 to 130 thousand people. All units were scattered over gigantic distances and a single military force did not represent themselves.

Until the end of the war, the ROA managed to take part in hostilities three times. On February 9, 1945, in the battles on the Oder, three Vlasov battalions under the leadership of Colonel Sakharov achieved some success in their direction.

But these successes were short-lived. April 13, 1945, the 1st division of the ROA without special success participated in battles with the 33rd Army of the Red Army.

But in the battles of May 5-8 for Prague, under the leadership of her commander Bunyachenko, she showed herself very well. The Nazis were driven out of the city, and could not return to it.

At the end of the war, most of the "Vlasovites" were extradited Soviet authorities. Leaders hanged in 1946. The rest were waiting for camps and settlements.

In 1949, less than half of the 112,882 “Vlasov” special settlers were Russians: - 54,256 people.

Among the rest: Ukrainians - 20,899; Belarusians - 5,432; Georgians - 3,705; Armenians - 3,678; Uzbeks - 3,457; 807, Kabardians - 640, Moldovans - 637, Mordovians - 635, Ossetians - 595, Tajiks - 545, Kirghiz -466, Bashkirs - 449, Turkmens - 389, Poles - 381, Kalmyks -335, Adyghes - 201, Circassians - 192, Lezgins - 177, Jews - 171, Karaites - 170, Udmurts - 157, Latvians - 150, Mari - 137, Karakalpaks - 123, Avars - 109, Kumyks - 103, Greeks - 102, Bulgarians -99, Estonians - 87, Romanians - 62, Nogais - 59, Abkhazians - 58, Komi - 49, Dargins - 48, Finns - 46, Lithuanians - 41 and others - 2095 people.

Alexey Nos.

Thank you colleague a011kirs for a link to .

On November 14, 1944, in the city of Prague, Andrey Vlasov published the Manifesto for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia, which was a universal program of Russian collaborators.

It is Vlasov who is the most famous Russian traitor during the Great Patriotic War. But not the only one: what was the real scale of the anti-Soviet movement?

Hanged ROA collaborators in the last years of the war

Let's start with the total. Throughout the war, the number of collaborators slightly exceeded 1,000,000 people. But it is important to note that most of them were the so-called Khivs, that is, prisoners employed in rear work. In second place are Russian emigrants from Europe, members of the white movement. The percentage of the population of the USSR involved in direct operations against, and even more so in leading them, was extremely insignificant. Political composition participants was also extremely heterogeneous, which shows the lack of a powerful ideological platform among the collaborators.

ROA (Russian Liberation Army)

Commanding: Andrey Vlasov

Maximum population: 110-120,000 people

Vlasov in front of the soldiers

ROA Vlasov was the most numerous group that collaborated with the Germans. Nazi propaganda paid special attention to it, so the very fact of its creation in 1942 was presented in the media as a "personal initiative of Vlasov" and other "fighters against communism." Almost all commanders in it were recruited from ethnic Russians. This, of course, was done for ideological reasons, in order to demonstrate "the desire of the Russians to join the liberation army."

True, at the first stage of the formation of the ROA, there were not enough qualified personnel from prisoners who wished to embark on the path of cooperation with the Nazis. Therefore, positions in the movement were occupied by former white officers. But by the end of the war, the Germans began to replace them with Soviet traitors, since understandable friction arose between the Whites and the ex-Red Army.

The number of Vlasov formations is usually defined as more than one hundred thousand people, but this figure is what stands behind this figure. At the end of 1944, when the Nazis finally decided to throw Vlasov’s army to the front — before that, its role was quite operatic — other Russian national formations like the “Cossack camp” of Major General Domanov and the “Russian Corps” General Major Shteyfon. But the union took place only on paper. There was still no unified command of the reinforced army: all its units were scattered at great distances from each other. In reality, the Vlasov army is only three divisions - Generals Zverev, Bunyachenko and Shapovalov, and the latter was not even armed. Their total number did not exceed 50,000 thousand.

By the way, legally, the ROA received the status of an independent "ally" of the Reich, which gives some revisionists reason to represent Vlasov as a fighter against Stalin and Hitler at the same time. This naive assertion is broken by the fact that all funding for the Vlasov army came from the funds of the Ministry of Finance of Nazi Germany.

Hivi

Heavis received special books confirming their status as military personnel

Number: about 800 thousand people.

Naturally, in the conquest of Russia, the Nazis needed helpers from among the local population, civil servants - cooks, waiters, cleaners of machine guns and boots. The Germans cordially recorded all of them in "Khivi". They did not have weapons and worked in rear positions for a piece of bread. Later, when the Germans were already defeated at Stalingrad, the Goebbels department began to classify the Khivs as "Vlasovites", hinting that they were inspired by the political example of Andrei Vlasov to betray communism. In reality, many Khivs had a very vague idea of ​​who Vlasov was, despite the abundance of propaganda leaflets. At the same time, about a third of the Khivs were actually engaged in hostilities: as local auxiliary units and policemen.

"Russian Corps"

Maximum population: 16,000 people

Commanding: Boris Shteifon

The formation of the "Russian Corps" began in 1941: then the Germans captured Yugoslavia, where a large number of white emigrants lived. From their composition, the first Russian voluntary formation was created. The Germans, confident in their impending victory, treated the ex-White Guards with little interest, so their autonomy was reduced to a minimum: throughout the war, the Russian Corps was mostly engaged in the fight against the Yugoslav partisans. In 1944, the Russian Corps was included in the ROA. Most of his employees eventually surrendered to the Allies, which allowed them to avoid trial in the USSR and stay in Latin America, USA and England.

"Cossack camp"

Maximum population: 2000-3000 people

Commanding: Sergey Pavlov

Under the flag of the SS, the Cossack cavalry goes on the attack

The history of the Cossack detachments was of particular importance in the Reich, since Hitler and his associates saw in the Cossacks not the Slavic population, but the descendants of the Gothic tribes, who were also the ancestors of the Germans. From this arose the concept of a "German-Cossack State" in the south of Russia - a stronghold of the Reich's power. The Cossacks within the German army tried in every possible way to emphasize their own identity, so it came to curiosities: for example, Orthodox prayers for the health of "Hitler Tsar" or the organization of Cossack patrols in Warsaw, looking for Jews and partisans. The Cossack movement of collaborators was supported by Pyotr Krasnov, one of the leaders of the white movement. He described Hitler as follows: “I ask you to tell all the Cossacks that this war is not against Russia, but against the Communists, the Jews and their henchmen who sell Russian blood. God help the German weapons and Hitler! Let them do what the Russians and Emperor Alexander I did for Prussia in 1813.”

Cossacks were sent to different countries Europe as auxiliary units to suppress uprisings. An interesting moment is connected with their stay in Italy - after the Cossacks suppressed the uprisings of anti-fascists, a number of cities occupied by them were renamed "villages". The German press treated this fact favorably and wrote with great enthusiasm about "Cossacks asserting Gothic superiority in Europe."

At the same time, it should be taken into account that the number of the "Cossack camp" was very modest, and the number of Cossacks who fought in the Red Army significantly exceeded the number of collaborators.

1st Russian National Army

Commanding: Boris Holmston-Smyslovsky

Number: 1000 people

Smyslovskiy in Wehrmacht uniform

The very project of the 1st Russian National Army is of little interest, since it was no different from the numerous small gangs that formed under the wing of Vlasov. It is perhaps distinguished from the general series by the charismatic personality of its commander, Boris Smyslovsky, who had the pseudonym Arthur Holmston. Interestingly, Smyslovsky came from Jews who converted to Christianity and received title of nobility in royal times. However, the Nazis were not embarrassed by the Jewish origin of the ally. He was helpful.

In 1944, a conflict of interests arose between Smyslovsky and Vlasov, the commander of the ROA. Vlasov told the German generals that the introduction of characters like Smyslovsky into his structure contradicted the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe movement of ordinary Soviet people, infringed by the Stalinist regime. Smyslovsky, on the contrary, considered all Soviet traitors to the original tsarist Russia. As a result, the conflict escalated into a confrontation, and Smyslovsky's squads left the ROA, forming their own formation.

Boris Smyslovsky with his wife in the 60s. Quiet life of the former executioner.

By the end of the war, the few remnants of his army withdrew to Liechtenstein. Smyslovsky's position that he was not a supporter of Hitler, but only an anti-Soviet, allowed him to stay in the West after the war. A little-known, but revered in certain circles, French film “Wind from the East” was made about this story. The role of Smyslovsky in the film was played by the legendary Malcolm McDowell, the fighters of his army are depicted as heroes who fled from Stalin's tyranny due to repression. In the end, some of them, deceived by Soviet propaganda, decide to return home, but in Hungary, the Red Army soldiers stop the train and, on the orders of political workers, shoot all the unfortunate. This is rare nonsense, since most of Smyslovsky's supporters left Russia immediately after the revolution, and in the post-war USSR, no one shot collaborators without trial.

Ethnic formations

Maximum population: 50,000 people

The motives of the members of the Ukrainian SS division "Galicia" or the Baltic SS-sheep are obvious: hatred of the USSR for invading their lands, plus the desire for national independence. However, if the ROA Hitler allowed at least some formal autonomy, the Germans were much less condescending towards the national movements in the USSR: they were included in the German armed forces, the vast majority of officers and commanders were Germans. Although the same Lviv Ukrainians, of course, could amuse the national feeling by translating German military ranks into their own language. For example, in "Galicia" the obershutze was called the "senior strylets", and the haupscharführer was called the "mace".

Ethnic collaborators were entrusted with the most rough work - the fight against partisans and mass executions: for example, the main executioners at Babi Yar were precisely Ukrainian nationalists. Many representatives of national movements settled in the West after the war; after the collapse of the USSR, their descendants and supporters play a significant role in the politics of the CIS countries.

An incredible number of myths and stereotypes are associated with the history of the Vlasov army, as well as with the personality of General Vlasov. Unfortunately, in recent years their number has been seriously progressing. However, the problem is that the very phrase "Vlasov movement", if we mean it as a kind of political phenomenon, is, of course, much wider than what is called the "Vlasov army". The fact is that participants in the Vlasov movement can be considered not only military personnel, but also civilians who, to military service had nothing to do with it at all. For example, members of the “assistance groups” of the KONR, which arose in the guest worker camps after November 1944: these are civilian employees of the Committee and its institutions, divisions, several thousand people - all of them can be considered participants in the Vlasov movement, but not military personnel of the Vlasov army.

Most often, with the phrase "Vlasov army" we have such an association - the Russian Liberation Army (ROA). But in reality, the ROA was a fiction; it never existed as an operational association. It was an exclusively propaganda stamp that appeared in late March - early April 1943. And all the so-called (or almost all) Russian "volunteers" who served in the German armed forces: freiwilliger, partly Khiva - they all wore this chevron and were considered soldiers of an army that never existed. In fact, they were members of the German armed forces, the Wehrmacht, in the first place. Until October 1944, the only unit that was subordinate to Vlasov was a security company scattered in Dabendorf and Dalen, where the general was actually under house arrest. That is, there was no Vlasov army. And only in November 1944, or rather in October, did a really serious, qualified headquarters begin to be created.

By the way, I must say that Vlasov performed more representative functions in his army. Its true organizer, a man who has managed to achieve a lot over the past six months, was Fyodor Ivanovich Trukhin, a professional General Staff officer, former head of the operations department of the North-Western Front, deputy chief of staff of the North-Western Front, who was captured in the last days of June 1941 . Actually, it was General Trukhin who was the real creator of the Vlasov army. He was Vlasov's deputy for the affairs of the Committee, military affairs, deputy head of the military department.

The true creator of the Vlasov army was General Fyodor Trukhin

If we talk about the structure of the Vlasov army, then it developed as follows: firstly, Vlasov and Trukhin counted on the fact that the Germans would transfer all existing Russian units, subdivisions, formations under their command. However, looking ahead, this did not happen.

In April 1945, the Vlasov army de jure included two Cossack corps: in the Separate Cossack Corps in Northern Italy there were 18.5 thousand combat ranks, and in the 15th Cossack Corps von Pannwitz without German personnel - about 30 thousand people. On January 30, 1945, the Russian Corps also joined Vlasov, which was not very large in number, about 6 thousand people, but consisted of fairly professional personnel. Thus, as of April 20-22, 1945, about 124 thousand people were subordinate to General Vlasov. If we single out Russians separately (without Ukrainians, Belarusians), then about 450 - 480 thousand people passed through the Vlasov army. Of these, 120 - 125 thousand people (as of April 1945) can be considered Vlasov military personnel.

The certification of servicemen who arrived in the officer reserve was carried out by a qualification commission led by Major Arseniy Demsky. The commission assessed the knowledge, training, professional suitability of former Soviet officers. As a rule, the serviceman retained his old military rank, especially if documents or a prisoner of war card were kept, where it was recorded, but sometimes he was assigned a higher rank. For example, military engineer II rank Alexei Ivanovich Spiridonov served in Vlasov's Main Directorate of Propaganda - he was immediately accepted into the ROA as a colonel, although his military rank did not correspond to this rank. Andrei Nikitich Sevastyanov, head of the logistics department of the Central Headquarters, in general, a personality in Russian history unique (we will say a few words about him below), received the rank of major general in the ROA.

KONR meeting in Berlin, November 1944

The fate of Andrei Nikitich Sevastyanov has almost never been the subject of attention of historians and researchers. He was the son of a Moscow clerk or even a merchant of the second guild (versions differ). He graduated from a commercial school in Moscow, after which he studied for some time at the Higher technical school. Before the revolution, he served in active service in the ranks of the Imperial Army, and left with the rank of warrant officer in the reserve. The First World War began. Sevastyanov immediately went to the front, ending the war in the fall of 1917 with the rank of staff captain. In principle, there is nothing to be surprised here. However, we note that during these three years of the war, our hero received seven military Russian awards, including the St. George Cross of the 4th degree and the Order of St. Vladimir with swords. As far as is known, this is the only case in the history of the First World War when a non-professional officer (Sevastyanov was from the reserve) received seven military orders, including the two highest ones. At the same time, he also earned a serious wound: during the attack of the Austrian cavalry, Sevastyanov was wounded with a blade in the head and spent almost the entire 1917 in the hospital.

In 1918, Sevastyanov went to serve in the Red Army, from where he was fired for anti-Soviet views. For twenty years he was imprisoned, then released. And in 1941, near Kiev, according to one version, he went over to the side of the enemy himself, according to another, he was captured.

In the Red Army, Sevastyanov passed the certification, his card was in the card file of the commanding staff, but military rank he was never assigned. Apparently he was waiting. According to one version, he should have been given the rank of captain, which corresponded to a staff captain, but for some reason the chief of artillery of the 21st Army ordered Sevastyanov to wear one rhombus in his buttonholes. It turns out that Andrei Nikitich was captured with the rank of brigade commander, a rank that was no longer there in September 1941. And on the basis of this entry in the ROA, Sevastyanov was certified as a major general.

In February 1945, Andrei Sevastyanov, together with the generals of the ROA, Mikhail Meandrov and Vladimir Artsezo, who served with Vlasov under the pseudonym "Iceberg", was extradited by the Americans to Soviet representatives. In 1947, he was shot by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR.

In April 1945, about 124 thousand people obeyed General Vlasov

If we estimate the size of the officer corps of the Vlasov army, then as of April 1945, it ranged from 4 to 5 thousand people in the ranks from second lieutenant to general, including, of course, white emigrants who joined Vlasov in a fairly compact group. Mostly they were officers of the Russian Corps. For example, military personnel under the leadership of Lieutenant General Boris Alexandrovich Shteifon, hero of the Erzurum battle of 1916, commandant of the Gallipoli camp, member of the White movement. It is worth noting that almost all white émigré officers occupied separate, rather important posts in Vlasov's army.

If we compare the number of Soviet officers who were captured with the number of white emigrants who joined the Vlasov army, then the ratio will be somewhere around 1:5 or 1:6. At the same time, we note that the latter compared favorably with the commanders of the Red Army. It can even be said that the officers of the Russian Corps were more ready for rapprochement with the Vlasovites than the soldiers of the Red Army.

How can this be explained? Partly because the appearance of General Vlasov was psychologically justified in the eyes of white emigrants. In the 30s, all the magazines of the white military emigration (“Sentry” and a number of others) enthusiastically wrote (the theory of “Comcor Sidorchuk” was very popular) that there would be some popular commander of the Red Army who would lead the struggle of the people against the authorities, and then we are this commander, even if in civil war he opposed us, we will definitely support. And when Vlasov appeared (the first meeting between Vlasov and Major General of the General Staff Alexei von Lampe took place on May 19, 1943 at the house of the former vice-director of the department of agriculture Fyodor Schlippe, Stolypin's ally in agrarian reform), he made a very good impression.

Thus, we emphasize this once again, there were much more white emigrants in the ranks of the Vlasov army than participated in the resistance movement. If you objectively look at the number, then about 20 thousand Russian white emigrants during the Second World War fought on the side of the enemy.

Soldiers of the Russian Liberation Army, 1944

The “baptism of fire” of the ROA, with the exception of the active hostilities that the formations conducted before they entered the Vlasov army, took place on February 9, 1945. The strike group under the command of Colonel Igor Sakharov, formed from Soviet citizens, volunteers who served in the Vlasov army, and several white émigrés, together with German troops took part in the battles with the 230th rifle division The Red Army, which took up defensive positions in the Oder region. I must say that the actions of the ROA were quite effective. In his diary, Goebbels noted "the outstanding achievements of the detachments of General Vlasov."

> The second episode involving the ROA, much more serious, took place on April 13, 1945 - the so-called operation "April weather". It was an attack on the bridgehead of the Soviet fortification, the Erlenhof bridgehead, south of Furstenberg, which was defended by the 415th separate machine-gun and artillery battalion, which was part of the 119th fortified area of ​​the Soviet 33rd Army. And Sergey Kuzmich Bunyachenko, a former colonel of the Red Army, major general of the ROA, put two of his infantry regiments into action. However, the terrain there was so unfavorable, and the front of the attack was only 504 meters, and the attackers exposed themselves from the flank under the strong barrage of Soviet artillery of the 119th UR, that success (advance 500 meters, capture the first line of trenches and hold out on it until the next days) achieved only the 2nd regiment. The 3rd regiment under the command of Georgy Petrovich Ryabtsev, who served under the pseudonym "Alexandrov", a former major of the Red Army, lieutenant colonel of the Vlasov army, was defeated.

By the way, the fate of Ryabtsev, who shot himself on the demarcation line in the Czech Republic after the Prague uprising, is very curious. To the first world war he was captured by the Germans, fled, being a non-commissioned officer of the Russian army, to the allies, the French. He fought in the Foreign Legion, then returned to Russia. He served in the Red Army, in 1941 he was the commander of the 539th regiment. He fell into German captivity for the second time, spent two years in the camp, filed a report with the ROA and was enrolled in the inspectorate of Major General Blagoveshchensky.

In the eyes of white emigrants, the appearance of Vlasov was psychologically justified

The 2nd Regiment was led by Lieutenant Colonel Vyacheslav Pavlovich Artemiev, a career cavalryman, by the way, is also a very interesting character. He was captured by the Germans in September 1943. At home, he was considered dead, posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner. After the war, Artemyev avoided forced extradition to the Soviet administration. He died in Germany in the 60s.

But the life story of General Ivan Nikitich Kononov could easily become the basis for a cinematic film or a detective story. A former Red Army soldier, commander of the 436th regiment of the 155th rifle division, Kononov on August 22, 1941, with a fairly large group of soldiers and commanders, went over to the side of the enemy, immediately offering to create a Cossack unit. During interrogation to the Germans, Kononov stated that he was from the repressed Cossacks, his father was hanged in 1919, two brothers died in 1934. And, interestingly, the Germans retained the rank of major assigned to Kononov in the Red Army, in 1942 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, in 1944 to colonel of the Wehrmacht, and in 1945 he became a major general of KONR. Over the years of service to the Wehrmacht, Kononov received twelve military awards - this is in addition to the Order of the Red Star, acquired at home.

As for the fate of the Colonel of the Red Army, Major General of the KONR Sergei Kuzmich Bunyachenko, there are many ambiguities in it. Bunyachenko was born into a poor Ukrainian family, more than half of which died from the "Holodomor". In 1937, at a party meeting, he criticized collectivization, for which he was immediately expelled from the party. The exception was later, however, replaced by a severe reprimand. In 1942, Bunyachenko commanded the 389th Infantry Division on the Transcaucasian Front and, following the order of General Maslennikov, blew up the bridge in the Mozdok-Chervlenoe section before some of the Red Army units had time to cross it. Bunyachenko was made a scapegoat, sent to court by a military tribunal, sentenced to death, which was later replaced by ten years of labor camps with departure after the end of the war. In October 1942, Bunyachenko took command of the 59th separate rifle brigade, seriously weakened, having lost in previous battles more than 35% of the personnel. In mid-October, in fierce defensive battles, the brigade suffered new losses, and in November it was practically destroyed. This defeat was also blamed on Bunyachenko, who was threatened with another arrest. And then there are two versions of the development of events: according to one of them, Bunyachenko was captured by the reconnaissance group of the 2nd Romanian infantry division, according to the other, he himself went over to the side of the Germans in December 1942 (however, the problem in this case is that that the Germans sent defectors to special camps, and Bunyachenko until May 1943 was in an ordinary camp).

After the Prague uprising, having disbanded the division on the orders of Vlasov and removed his insignia, Bunyachenko went in a headquarters column to the headquarters of the 3rd american army. On May 15, 1945, together with the chief of staff of the division, lieutenant colonel of the Armed Forces of the KONR Nikolaev and the head of the divisional counterintelligence, the captain of the Armed Forces of the KONR, Olkhovik, was transferred by American patrols to the command of the 25th Soviet tank corps. Nikolaev and Olkhovik were shot separately, and Bunyachenko was included in the group of officers and generals who were involved in the Vlasov case - he was hanged along with the commander-in-chief of the ROA. At the same time, there is reason to believe that it was Bunyachenko who was subjected to torture during the investigation: the time of the interrogation, judging by the record in the protocol, took 6-7 hours. Sergei Kuzmich was a man of principle, rude, boorish, but collectivization made a very terrible impression on him. In general, it should be noted that it was main reason, according to which the Vlasov movement arose.

General Vlasov inspects the soldiers of the ROA, 1944

Let's say a few words about the aviation of the Vlasov army. It is known that among the “falcons” of the general there were three Heroes of the Soviet Union: Bronislav Romanovich Antilevsky, Semyon Trofimovich Bychkov and Ivan Ivanovich Tennikov, whose biography is the least studied.

A career pilot, a Tatar by nationality, Tennikov, performing a combat mission to cover Stalingrad on September 15, 1942 over Zaikovsky Island, fought with enemy fighters, rammed the German Messerschmitg-110, shot him down and survived. There is a version that he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for this feat, but his name is not on the list of persons who were deprived of this title. V Soviet aviation Tennikov served until the fall of 1943, when he was shot down and considered missing. While in a prisoner of war camp, he entered the service of German intelligence and was then transferred to the Vlasov army. For health reasons, he could not fly and served as a propaganda officer. O future fate Tennikov after April 1945 nothing is known. According to the documents of the Main Directorate of Personnel of the Ministry of Defense, he is still missing.

White emigrant pilots also served with Vlasov: Sergei Konstantinovich Shabalin, one of the best aviators of the First World War, Leonid Ivanovich Baidak, who in June 1920 initiated the defeat of the 1st cavalry corps of Dmitry Zhlob, Mikhail Vasilyevich Tarnovsky, the son of a famous Russian gunsmith, Colonel of the Russian army, hero Russo-Japanese War Vasily Tarnovsky. At the age of 13, Mikhail left his homeland with his family. Lived first in France, then in Czechoslovakia, finished there flight school becoming a professional pilot. In 1941, Tarnovsky entered the service of German propaganda. He was an announcer and editor of a number of programs of the Vineta radio station, developed scripts and hosted radio programs of an anti-Stalinist and anti-Soviet nature. In the spring of 1943, in May, he applied to join the ROA. He served near Pskov in the Guards shock battalion, and then transferred to the Air Force, where he commanded a training squadron.

Why do we focus on Tarnovsky? The fact is that, surrendering to the Americans, he, as a citizen of the Czechoslovak Republic, was not subject to extradition to the Soviet occupation zone. However, Tarkovsky expressed a desire to share the fate of his subordinates and follow them to the Soviet zone. On December 26, he was sentenced to death by a military tribunal. Shot on January 18, 1946 in Potsdam. In 1999 he was rehabilitated by the prosecutor's office of St. Petersburg.

The third Hero of the Soviet Union in the ROA was pilot Ivan Tennikov

And finally, a few words about the ideological component of the Vlasov movement. Briefly state the theses - draw your own conclusions. Contrary to very common stereotypes and myths, most of the Vlasov officers began to cooperate with the enemy after Stalingrad, that is, in 1943, and some joined the general's army in 1944 and even in 1945. In a word, the life risks of a person, if he enrolled in the ROA after 1943, did not decrease, but increased: the situation in the camps had changed so much compared to the first months of the war that only a suicide could join the Vlasov army in these years.

It is known that Vlasov had completely different people, not only in military ranks, but also in political views. Therefore, if during such a terrible war there is such a massive betrayal of captured generals and officers to their own state, the oath, you still need to look for social causes. During the First World War, the enemy had thousands of officers of the Russian army in captivity, but there was nothing like that, not a single defector officer (except Ensign Yermolenko) was even close. Not to mention the situation of the XIX century.

As for the trial of General Vlasov and other leaders of the ROA, at first the leadership of the USSR planned to hold a public trial in the October Hall of the House of the Unions. However, this intention was later abandoned. Perhaps the reason was that some of the accused could express views in court that could objectively coincide with the moods of a certain part of the population dissatisfied with the Soviet regime.

On July 23, 1946, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks issued a decision on the death sentence. On August 1, General Vlasov and his followers were hanged.

Vlasovites, or fighters of the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) - in military history figures are ambiguous. Until now, historians cannot come to a consensus. Supporters consider them fighters for justice, true patriots of the Russian people. The opponents are unconditionally sure that the Vlasovites are traitors to the Motherland, who went over to the side of the enemy and mercilessly destroyed their compatriots.

Why Vlasov created ROA

The Vlasovites positioned themselves as patriots of their country and their people, but not the government. Their goal was allegedly to overthrow the established political regime in order to provide people with a decent life. General Vlasov considered Bolshevism, in particular Stalin, the main enemy of the Russian people. He associated the prosperity of his country with cooperation and friendly relations with Germany.

treason

Vlasov went over to the side of the enemy at the most difficult moment for the USSR. The movement he propagated and in which he involved former soldiers of the Red Army was aimed at the destruction of the Russians. Having taken an oath of allegiance to Hitler, the Vlasovites decided to kill ordinary soldiers, burn villages and destroy their homeland. Moreover, Vlasov presented his Order of Lenin to Brigadeführer Fegelein in response to the loyalty shown to him.

Demonstrating his loyalty, General Vlasov gave valuable military advice. Knowing the problem areas and plans of the Red Army, he helped the Germans plan attacks. In the diary of the Minister of Propaganda of the Third Reich and the Gauleiter of Berlin, Joseph Goebbels, there is an entry about his meeting with Vlasov, who gave him advice, taking into account the experience of defending Kiev and Moscow, how best to organize the defense of Berlin. Goebbels wrote: “The conversation with General Vlasov inspired me. I learned that Soviet Union I had to overcome exactly the same crisis that we are overcoming now, and that there is certainly a way out of this crisis, if you are extremely decisive and do not succumb to it.

At the mercy of the fascists

Vlasovites took part in the brutal massacres of civilians. From the memoirs of one of them: “The next day, the commandant of the city, Schuber, ordered all the state farmers to be driven out to Chernaya Balka, and the executed communists to be duly buried. Here stray dogs were caught, thrown into the water, the city was cleared ... First from Jews and cheerful ones, at the same time from Zherdetsky, then from dogs. And bury the corpses at the same time. trace. How else, gentlemen? After all, it’s not the forty-first year already - the forty-second in the yard! Already carnival tricks, joyful ones had to be hidden slowly. After all, it was possible before, and so, in a simple way. Shoot and throw on the coastal sand, and now - bury! But what a dream!”
The soldiers of the ROA, together with the Nazis, smashed the partisan detachments, talking about it with rapture: “They hung the captured partisan commanders on poles at dawn railway station, then continued to drink. They sang German songs, embracing their commander, walked the streets and touched the frightened sisters of mercy! The real gang!

Baptism of fire

General Bunyachenko, who commanded the 1st division of the ROA, received an order to prepare the division for an offensive on the bridgehead captured by the Soviet troops with the task of pushing the Soviet troops back to the right bank of the Oder in this place. For Vlasov's army, this was a baptism of fire - it had to prove its right to exist.
On February 9, 1945, the ROA first entered the position. The army captured Neulevien, the southern part of Karlsbyse and Kerstenbruch. Joseph Goebbels even noted in his diary "the outstanding achievements of the detachments of General Vlasov." The ROA soldiers played a key role in the battle - thanks to the fact that the Vlasovites noticed in time a disguised battery of Soviet anti-tank guns ready for battle, the German units did not become a victim of a bloody massacre. Saving the Fritz, the Vlasovites mercilessly killed their compatriots.
On March 20, the ROA was supposed to capture and equip a bridgehead, as well as ensure the passage of ships along the Oder. When during the day the left flank, despite strong artillery support, was stopped, the Russians, who were waiting with hope for the exhausted and discouraged Germans, were used as a "fist". The Germans sent Vlasov on the most dangerous and obviously failed missions.

Prague uprising

The Vlasovites showed themselves in occupied Prague - they decided to oppose the German troops. On May 5, 1945, they came to the aid of the rebels. The rebels demonstrated unprecedented cruelty - they shot down a German school from heavy anti-aircraft machine guns, turning its students into a bloody mess. Subsequently, the Vlasovites, retreating from Prague, met with the retreating Germans in hand-to-hand combat. The uprising resulted in robberies and murders of the civilian population and not only the German one.
There were several versions of why the ROA took part in the uprising. Maybe she was trying to earn forgiveness Soviet people or sought to obtain political asylum in liberated Czechoslovakia. One of the authoritative opinions is that German command delivered an ultimatum: either the division follows their orders, or it will be destroyed. The Germans made it clear that the ROA would not be able to exist independently and act according to its convictions, and then the Vlasovites went on sabotage.
The adventurous decision to take part in the uprising cost the ROA dearly: about 900 Vlasovites were killed during the fighting in Prague (officially - 300), 158 wounded disappeared without a trace from Prague hospitals after the arrival of the Red Army, 600 Vlasov deserters were identified in Prague and shot by the Red Army