Lokot Autonomy

The Lokot Autonomy (Russian: Ло́котское самоуправле́ние, romanized: Lókotskoye samoupravléniye) or Lokot Republic (Russian: Ло́котская республика, romanized: Lókotskaya respublika, German: Republik Lokot) was an autonomous republic in the occupied territories of the Bryansk, Oryol and Kursk Oblasts of the Soviet Union formed by German troops, specifically Guderian's 2nd Panzer Army, during World War II. The Wehrmacht entered the area in October 1941 and were forced out in August 1943. A local administration and police were appointed by German occupation authorities in November 1941. The autonomous republic was established in July 1942, when six districts were added to the Lokot district. The autonomy's name was derived from the region's administrative center, the urban-type settlement of Lokot in Oryol Oblast (now located in Bryansk Oblast). The autonomy covered the area of eight raions (the present-day Brasovsky, Dmitriyevsky, Dmitrovsky, Komarichsky, Navlinsky, Sevsky, Suzemsky and Zheleznogorsky districts) now divided between Bryansk, Oryol and Kursk Oblasts. The Lokot Autonomy was ruled by a Russian civil administration led by Bronislav Kaminski and Konstantin Voskoboinik. The German authorities established the Autonomy to serve as a test case for a Russian collaborating government under the SS in the proposed Reichskommissariat Moskowien.