LMDR

LMDR is an acronym for Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland (English: Territorial Association of Germans from Russia), which is an armed right wing Volga German Nationalist and separatist organization in Russia and Kazakstan. The group was founded in 1992 after the fall of the Soviet Union as a paramilitary group engaged in a violent campaign of bombing, assassinations, and kidnappings in Southern Russia and Kazakhstan. Its goal is obtaining independence for the historic Volga German ASSR and Russian German ASSR. The group has engaged in a policy of ethnic cleansing against Kazakhs and Slavs. The LMDR currently de facto administers the Russian German Republic in Southern Russia and Kazakhstan.

Since 1992, it has killed thousands of people and injured thousands more. The LMDR is proscribed as a terrorist group by Russia, Kazakstan, and their allies, and has also been condemned by the League of Nations. This convention is followed by a plurality of domestic media, which also refer to the group as "terrorists". Conversely, the LMDR is supported and funded by multiple western countries.

Structure

The LMDR has a bipartite structure that consists of a military division for undertaking operations and a political wing for governing of the Russian German Republic. The military division has assumed the role of ethnic cleansing, assassinations, kidnappings, and internal and external security. Leadership is primarily based out of Kosakenstadt for the Volga region with a secondary branch in Jeremientau for the Kazakh region.

Much of the structure under structure of the LMDR remains unknown do to intense secrecy. The upper structure of the LMDR is recognized by the mainstream media and foreign intelligence services. More text.

Military Wing

The military wing was founded in 1993 as a collation of Russian German paramilitary organizations to provide defense of Russian German communities. The merger was directed by LMDR founder Roman Neustädter. Neustädter organized the divisions under his command with his assumption of the title of Generalfeldmarschall or General Field Marshal.

Poltical Wing

The governing body is the supreme council. As the organization grew more complex and Russian pressure increased it needed a broader base for decisions, the People's Council was established, elected from members of local council groups and this in turn elected the supreme council which makes decisions at the highest level. Representatives come from Kazakstan, the Volga area, leaders in exile and Russian prisons. This organ is located in Kosakenstadt with a secondary branch in Ereymentau.

The political branch is the primary governing group in the Russian German Republic, with the lies between state and party have blurred. Other political parties have formed a parliamentary collation with the LMDR, to form the National Coalition for Defense of the Motherland. The collation controls all the seats in the *bundestag*, with the LMDR controlling around 70% and the Communist party and the Nazi party controlling both around 15% of the seats in the parliament.

Kazakh Branch

Due to the separation of the Volga and Kazakh provinces, the Kazakh province has developed its own automatous branch. The Kazakh branch is less radical than the Volga branch, possibily due to lack of a historical connection to the land that the Volga branch has.

History

Background (Kazakh German ASSR and Volga German ASSR)

The Volga German ASSR was created following the Russian Revolution. It gave Soviet Germans a special status among the non-Russians in the USSR, providing cultural self determination and ethnic independence. It occupied the area of compact settlement of the large Volga German minority in Russia, which numbered almost 1.8 million by 1897. The republic was declared on January 6, 1924.

The Kazakh German ASSR was created 1976 following a petition 3,500 Kazakh Germans in 1972. It was centered around the districts of Ualikhanov, Ereymentau, and Osakarov. The German presence had grown in Kazakstan post World War II, when Germans, with the exception of those living in the Volga German ASSR, were deported to Kazakhstan and Siberia. When the region in Kazakhstan was created Khzakh Germans numbered more than 500,000 spread throughout mostly northern Kazakhstan.

During Soviet rule intense Russifaction efforts occurred, however fierce resistance prevented damage to Russian German culture and linguistic integrity.

Formation

In 1992 Roman Neustädter, a farmer, attended a group of his friends and family members from the Volga region. They were worried about the recent unrest in the USSR and the possible effects that it may have upon the Volga Germans. Thus, during that very same meeting the first charter of the LMDR was written, establishing it as a milita of Volga Germans as well as an official interest group. Quickly news of the groups founding spread throughout the Volga region with additional militas and interest groups merging with the LMDR, establishing it as the premier advocate for Germans from Russia.

Early Years

The Soviet coup d'état attempt on 19 August 1991 became the spark for the so-called Russian German revolution. On 21 August the LMDR called for the overthrow of the Supreme Soviet of the Volga and Kazakh German ASSRs. In September 1991, localLMDR squads seized the local KGB headquarters, and took over the building of the Supreme Soviet. The LMDR declared itself the only legitimate authority in the region. In October 1991, Neustädter was elected president of the both ASSRs. Neustädter, in his new position as president, issued a unilateral declaration of independence on 2 November 1991.

Ideology

The ideology of the LMDR has been summarized as Ethnic Nationalism; the LMDR follows the Außerhalbdeutschen ideology developed by leader Roman Neustädter, which advocates for nationalism of Germans outside Germany. The LMDR was largely formed with the aid of the western powers in the early 1980s in order to spread desalination in the Soviet Union. The LMDRS aims to receive international recognition of the Russian German Republic as well as achieve complete sovereignty over all claimed areas.