16 March, 19:32
When discussing collaboration during World War II, Russians typically try to pretend it had nothing to do with them. But reality tells a different story: some of the most devoted Nazi collaborators were Russian émigrés and White Army officers.
📌 Konstantin Kromiadi (codename "Sanin") – a colonel of the White Army, a staunch monarchist, and later—a loyal servant of the Third Reich.
After losing the Russian Civil War, he settled in Germany and, when Hitler came to power, quickly found his place. By early 1942, Kromiadi was one of the key figures in the creation of the Russian National People's Army (RNNA)—a military unit under the supervision of the German Abwehr.
💀 The RNNA "distinguished" itself with brutal anti-partisan operations. Its cruelty shocked even the German command. Only in Russia and Belarus, RNNA units burned down over 200 villages. Eventually, the Nazis were forced to disband the unit—not due to inefficiency, but because of excessive brutality.
But Kromiadi didn’t stop there.
🔥 In March 1943, he established a new unit – the 1st Russian SS Brigade "Druzhina".
By mid-1943, it had 4,000 fighters, capable of carrying out large-scale punitive actions.
🔪 The most infamous operation – "Kottbus".
- 6,087 partisans killed in combat.
- 4,000 civilians executed.
- Up to 6,000 civilians deported to Germany as forced laborers.
- 221 villages burned to the ground.
- All livestock and food supplies looted.
❗ Notably, despite the massive scale of their crimes, these "brave Russian SS soldiers" suffered only 190 casualties, with 38 killed. This means the loss ratio between the occupying forces and the partisans was 1:150.
After the war, like many Russian Nazi collaborators, Kromiadi evaded justice. He lived peacefully in Greece and later in West Germany, cooperated with Western intelligence services, published memoirs, and died of natural causes.
🚨 Yet today, the same Russians who fought for Hitler for decades call themselves "anti-fascists" and accuse others of collaboration.
We remember. We know. We tell the truth.