to Suzdal and then to Krasnogorsk near Moscow, where they later met with most of the other surviving men. At Krasnogorsk, and later Karasovo, the Soviets started to form them into a new unit in Royal Yugoslav uniforms (Soviets did not recognise Tito's forces as belonging to a sovereign state). During his imprisonment, Mesić appeared in Soviet propaganda, wearing a Royal Yugoslav Army uniform with Tito's flag. He may have been forced to do so in order to save the lives of his remaining comrades. Upon learning of his appearance, the Ministry of the Armed Forces removed him from the Croatian Armed Forces and rescinded his awards. During 1944, Mesić was given command by the Soviets of the newly formed First Yugoslav Volunteer Brigade, assembled from prisoners of war of Yugoslavian origin, as well as volunteers living in Russia at the time. Mesić was once again given the rank of colonel. The new Yugoslav partisan brigade, now wearing old Royal Yugoslav Army uniforms, was also commanded by former Croatian Legion officers such as Lieutenant Colonel Egon Zitnik, Major Marijan Prislin, and Major Marijan Tulicic. This unit, like many other "national' units, was to become a part of Yugoslav People's Army and was transported to Yugoslavia during 1944. During a battle for Čačak in late 1944, Mesić and his men were sent against superior retreating German forces (of the 104th Jäger Division and the 7th SS "Prinz Eugen" division) which nearly destroyed Mesić's unit. Partisan units supporting Mesić and his unit fled in disarray early on, leaving Mesić and his unit dangerously exposed, leading to 137 dead, 330 wounded, and 72 missing in action from the unit. These casualties were unprecedented in the partisan war at that point. Tito was reportedly angrier than ever before when he subsequently interviewed Mesić. Tito verbally attacked Mesic during the meeting for his legionnaire fascist past. Tito did not order Mesić punished, but many of Mesić's comrades were not so fortunate. One of Mesić's predecessors from the Croatian Legion, Ivan Markulj was executed in Belgrade in September 1945. After the defeat at Čačak, Yugoslav partisan commanders removed Mesić and many of his former 369th comrades from the brigade in Belgrade late 1944. Some of them, such as Lieutenant Nikola Sabski, the acting intelligence officer of the brigade, were shot as suspected Gestapo collaborators. Many were also suspected of being Soviet infiltrators. The brigade subsequently suffered