General Andrey Vlasov Addressing Soldiers of the Russian Liberation Army, 1942

December 14, 2025 - Reading time: 4 minutes

General Andrey Vlasov addressing soldiers of the Russian Liberation Army after defecting to Nazi Germany, 1942.

This photograph shows former Soviet Lieutenant General Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov delivering a propaganda speech to soldiers of the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) after defecting to Nazi Germany in 1942. Once a high-ranking Red Army commander, Vlasov chose collaboration with the enemy after being captured, becoming one of the most notorious traitors in Soviet history.

The Russian Liberation Army was formed from Soviet prisoners of war and collaborators who agreed to fight alongside the Wehrmacht against their former country. Although presented by German propaganda as an “anti-Bolshevik Russian force,” the ROA remained tightly controlled by Nazi authorities and was primarily used for propaganda, rear-area duties, and limited combat roles.

Vlasov’s speeches and public appearances were carefully staged to legitimize the ROA and encourage further defections among Soviet POWs. He attempted to present his collaboration as a political struggle against Stalinism, but in reality his movement operated entirely under German command and served the strategic interests of the Third Reich.

The photograph illustrates the psychological warfare aspect of the Eastern Front, where propaganda, coercion, and survival often intersected. For many ROA soldiers, enlistment was driven less by ideology than by the brutal conditions of German POW camps, where starvation and disease claimed millions of lives.

After Germany’s defeat, Vlasov was captured by Soviet forces, tried for treason, and executed in 1946. His name remains synonymous with collaboration betrayal and collaboration in Russian historical memory.

Technical Photo Data:

📍 Location: Eastern Front
📅 Date: 1942
📝 Subject: Andrey A. Vlasov and soldiers of the Russian Liberation Army (ROA)
📷 Photographer: Unknown

• Vlasov movement
• ROA soldiers WWII
• Soviet POW collaboration
• Anti-Soviet propaganda
• Nazi-controlled Russian units