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Andrei Vlasov

Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov
Андрéй Андрéевич Влáсов
Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1984-101-29, Andrej Wlassow.jpg
Lieutenant General A. A. Vlasov.
Chairman of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia
In office
14 November 1944 – May 1945
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Position abolished
Personal details
Born (1901-09-14)September 14, 1901
Lomakino, Russian Empire
Died August 2, 1946(1946-08-02) (aged 44)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Awards
Military service
Allegiance  Soviet Union
(1919–1942)
 Nazi Germany
(1942–1944)
Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia
(1944–1945)
Years of service 1919 — 1945
Rank Lieutenant general
Commands

Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov or Wlassow (Russian: Андрéй Андрéевич Влáсов, September 14 [O.S. September 1] 1901 – August 1, 1946) was a Russian Red Army general and collaborationist. During World War II he fought in the Battle of Moscow and later was captured attempting to lift the siege of Leningrad. After being captured, he defected to Nazi Germany and headed the so-called Russian Liberation Army (Russkaya osvoboditel'naya armiya (ROA)). At the war's end, he changed sides again and ordered the ROA to aid the Prague uprising against the Germans. He and the ROA then tried to escape to the western front, but were captured by Soviet forces. Vlasov was tried for treason and hanged.

Born in Lomakino, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate, Russian Empire, Vlasov was originally a student at a Russian Orthodox seminary. He quit the study of divinity after the Russian Revolution, briefly studying agricultural sciences instead, and in 1919 joined the Red Army fighting in the southern theatre in Ukraine, the Caucasus, and the Crimea. He distinguished himself as an officer and gradually rose through the ranks of the Red Army.

Vlasov joined the Communist Party in 1930. Sent to China, he acted as a military adviser to Chiang Kai-shek from 1938 to November 1939. Upon his return, Vlasov served in several assignments before being given command of the 99th Rifle Division. After just nine months under Vlasov's leadership, and an inspection by Semyon Timoshenko, the division was recognized as one of the best divisions in the Army in 1940. Timoshenko presented Vlasov with an inscribed gold watch, as he "found the 99th the best of all". The historian John Erickson says of Vlasov at this point that [he] "was an up-and-coming man". In 1940, Vlasov was promoted to major general, and on June 22, 1941, when the Germans and their allies invaded the Soviet Union, Vlasov was commanding 4th Mechanized Corps.


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