Andrey Vlasov: The General Who Defected

After World War II, one of the Red Army’s most famous generals vanished from Soviet

history books—on purpose. His name was Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov. In 1941,

he was a rising star of the Soviet military. He helped defend Moscow against Nazi

Germany and earned praise from Joseph Stalin himself. But in 1942, everything changed.

Vlasov was captured by German forces during the Battle of Leningrad. Instead of dying

in a prison camp, he made a fateful choice. He defected. Vlasov agreed to

lead the Russian Liberation Army, made up of Soviet prisoners of war fighting against

Stalin. His goal, he claimed, was not to serve Hitler but to overthrow