Russian Liberation Army

Russian Liberation Army
General Vlasov and soldiers of the ROA
Active	1943 (as Osttruppen) / 1944 (officially)[a] – 1945
Allegiance	Nazi Germany (until January 1945) Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (since November 1944)
Type	Infantry Air force
Size	125,000 troops (1945)
Nickname(s)	Vlasovites ("Vlasovtsy")
March	We Are Marching in Wide Fields
Engagements	World War II Eastern Front Operation April Weather [ru] Prague Uprising Prague offensive Western Front Nuremberg
Commanders
Notable commanders	Andrey Vlasov (since January 1945) Sergei Bunyachenko Mikhail Meandrov
Insignia
Badge
Flags of the KONR and ROA

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. Since January 1945, 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 of the ROA 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). The ROA esisted only in Nazi propaganda until November 1944, while the Osttruppen referred to as "ROA" by the Nazi propaganda served directly under German command and were not formalized as separate units, while the image of Vlasov was a mere propaganda weapon.^[2] On 14 November 1944, it was officially formed as 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, and Vlasov became the commander in chief of the ROA.

While for the Nazis the ROA was a propaganda weapon, the Russian defectors and collaborators behind the enterprise attempted to present a democratic political program while avoiding the Nazi antisemitism and chauvinism and form a political movement independent of the Nazi control. In May 1945, the 1st divison of the ROA, while being the only completed division of the existing three, switched sides and joined the anti-Nazi Prague uprising.^[2]

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