The Lokot Autonomy () or Lokot Republic (, ) was an autonomous structure on the territory of the Central Russian oblasts of Bryansk, Oryol and Kursk from July 1942 to August 1943. The Wehrmacht entered the area in October 1941 and were forced out in August 1943. The autonomy was formed 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. Instead of being ruled by the German military administration, the Lokot Autonomy was ruled by a Russian civil administration of Bronislav Kaminski and . The German authorities established the Autonomy to serve as a test case for a Russian collaborationist government under the SS in the proposed Reichskommissariat Moskowien. History Foundation In October 1941, the Nazi German military advanced into the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa. They reached the Lokot area near the city of Bryansk, and captured it on October 6, 1941. In November 1941 Bronislav Kaminski (an engineer at a local distillery) and Konstantin Voskoboinik (a local technical school teacher) were approached by the German military administration to help them establish a civil administration and local police. Voskoboinik was designated by Germans as starosta of the "Lokot volost." Kaminski became Voskoboinik's deputy. Other deputies appointed were Stepan Mosin and Roman Ivanin (the head of the local militia), both former prisoners. Militia Initially the militia headed by Voskoboinik numbered no more than 200 men. It assisted Germans in policing the area, and committed numerous atrocities against the civilian population loyal to the Soviet authorities or Soviet partisans, Soviet prisoners of war (POWs), Jews and ordinary civilians. By January 1942 the militia's personnel was increased to 400–500. During a partisan attack headed by Alexander Saburov on January 8, 1942, Voskoboinik was fatally wounded. Kaminski took over the command and further expanded the militia. In cooperation with German forces, the militia commenced security operations, and by spring of 1942, the militia had 1,400 armed personnel. The number of Soviet partisans in this area was estimated at 20,000 men; they controlled almost the entire rear of the Army Group Centre's area of operations. In March 1942, Kaminski's representative