Οι Ρωσσοι ειχαν επισημα ταγματα SS
Waffen-Sturm-Brigade der SS RONA, was a
collaborationist formation composed of Russian nationals from the territory of the
Lokot Autonomy in
Axis-occupied areas of the
RSFSR,
Soviet Union on the
Eastern Front.
[1]
It was founded in late 1941 as
auxiliary police with 200 personnel. By mid-1943 it had grown to 10,000–12,000 men, equipped with captured Soviet tanks and artillery.
[1] Bronislav Kaminski, the unit's leader, named it the
Russian National Liberation Army (
Russian: Русская освободительная народная армия (РОНА),
romanized:
Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armiya, (RONA)).
After the
Wehrmacht lost the
Battle of Kursk in August 1943, RONA personnel retreated to
the territory of Byelorussia, especially to the
Lepel area of
Vitebsk, where they participated in
German security operations, committing numerous atrocities against the civilian population[
citation needed]. The unit was absorbed into the
Waffen-SS in June 1944.