Foreign troops created by the Soviet Union to fight against Nazism

The efforts of the Soviet Union to form allied armies on the Soviet-German front before the opening of the second front by American, British, and Canadian troops in Normandy in June 1944 have been analyzed in the work. These armies were composed of contingents of foreigners who found themselves in the USSR for various reasons (political emigrants, prisoners of war, internees, administratively displaced persons, etc.), and in case of shortage, Soviet citizens related to the titular ethnic groups of the foreign units were also included. The work demonstrates the complexities of organizing foreign troops and relations with foreign counterparts (governments in exile, military missions, socio-political organizations representing their countries), taking into account the historical and political context in which this initiative was implemented.