The White émigré and Russian nationalist Boris Smyslovsky, commanded the eastern battalion of the Russian All-Military Union based in Serbia, and in July 1941 formed an Abwehr Training Battalion (Lehrbattalion) for anti-partisan and warfare duties under Wehrmacht Army Group North.

By December, he had recruited more than 10,000 Russians into 12 reconnaissance battalions, unified into Sonderdivision R.[1] In March 1942, Smyslovsky formed the Sonderstab R counterintelligence agency in Warsaw, with Colonel Mikhail M. Shapovalov controlling 1,000 agents in detachment in Pskov.

By April 1945, Smyslovsky had moved his fighters to Feldkirch where he met Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich, the Romanov claimant to the Russian Imperial Crown.

[citation needed] The Liechtenstein government did not obstruct individuals who agreed voluntarily to return to the Soviet Union.

The 1993 French movie Vent d'est, directed by Robert Enrico, is based on the perambulation of Smyslovsky and his army.