Russian People's Liberation Army

The Russian Liberation People's Army (Russian: Русская освободительная народная армия, РОНА; transcription: Russkaya osvoboditel'naya narodnaya armiya, RONA), also known as the Kaminski Brigade or the Waffen-Sturm-Brigade RONA, was a collaborationist military formation composed of Russian nationals from the territory of the Lokot Autonomy in the German-occupied regions of the Soviet Union. The unit became known for its poor discipline, frequent drunkenness, and extreme brutality, which reportedly shocked even experienced members of the SS.

The formation originated in late 1941 as an auxiliary police militia numbering around 200 men. By mid-1943, it had expanded to 10,000–12,000 personnel, equipped with captured Soviet tanks and artillery, and was commanded by Bronislav Kaminski. In 1942, Kaminski implemented forced mobilization of local residents, turning the militia into a small regular army of the Lokot Autonomy, also referred to as the "Lokot Republic". The force effectively became Kaminski's personal army, subordinate to him alone.

Following the German defeat at the Battle of Kursk in August 1943, RONA units retreated to the territory of Byelorussia, particularly to the Lyepyel area of Vitebsk, where they took part in anti-partisan operations conducted by German forces. During these operations, the unit committed numerous atrocities against the civilian population.

The unit was incorporated into the Waffen-SS in June 1944. After Operation Bagration (June–August 1944), the RONA withdrew further west, and by the end of July 1944, the remnants of the Kaminski formation—estimated at between 3,000 and 7,000 men—had regrouped at the SS training camp in Neuhammer (now Świętoszów). Based on this force, the SS leadership planned to establish the 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian) (29. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS "RONA" (russische Nr. 1)). Heinrich Himmler signed the order for the division's creation on 1 August 1944, the same day the Warsaw Uprising began. The formation of the division was never completed, and part of the brigade was deployed to Warsaw, where its members again committed numerous atrocities. Kaminski was later executed on Himmler's orders.

By 27 August 1944, due to the brigade's lack of discipline and unreliability, German command withdrew it from Warsaw. The unit was subsequently sent to the Slovak Republic, where it was deployed against Slovak partisans. After October 1944, the brigade was disbanded, and its remaining personnel were absorbed into Andrey Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army.

After the war, some former members of the brigade and supporters of the Lokot Autonomy organized a partisan movement, which gradually degenerated into criminal groups and was eventually suppressed in 1951.