Russian Orthodox Army

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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Ukrainian. (February 2019) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Ukrainian article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 436 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Ukrainian Wikipedia article at [[:uk:Російська православна армія]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|uk|Російська православна армія}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Russian Orthodox Army (Русская православная армия)
Flag of the Russian Orthodox Army
Leader	Igor Girkin[1]
Dates of operation	May 2014–present
Headquarters	Donetsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
Active regions	Donbas, Ukraine
Ideology	Russian nationalism[2][3] Russian Orthodox extremism[1] Anti-Ukraine[4] Anti-Catholicism[4][5][6] Anti-Protestantism[6]
Size	4,000[1]
Part of	United Armed Forces of Novorossiya
Allies	Donetsk People's Republic  Luhansk People's Republic  Russia[note 1]
Opponents	Ukraine
Battles and wars	War in Donbas
Website	http://rusarmy.su

The Russian Orthodox Army (Russian: Русская православная армия, Russkaya pravoslavnaya armiya) is a militant group in Ukraine that was founded in May 2014, as part of the insurgency and following war in Donbas.^[2] It reportedly had 100 members at the time of its founding, including locals and Russian volunteers. As fighting between separatists and the Ukrainian government worsened in Donbas, their membership rose to 350, and later 4,000.^[1] Notable engagements of the ROA include the June 2014 skirmishes in Mariupol and Amvrosiivka Raion.^[7] The headquarters of the ROA is located in an occupied Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) building in Donetsk city.^[8] Members had no special training apart from the usual conscription service in the army^[9] and swore allegiance to Igor Girkin ("Strelkov"), insurgent and Minister of Defence of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic. Along with other separatist groups in the region, the ROA has been noted of "kidnapp[ing], beat[ing], and threaten[ing] Protestants, Catholics, and members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church… as well as participat[ing] in anti-Semitic acts."^[4]

June 8, 2014 the group murdered Pentecostals in Slaviansk.

In late November 2014, the group gained attention after abducting prominent Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest, Sergeii Kulbaka, and Roman Catholic priest, Father Pawel Witek.^[5][6] According to the Defence Ministry of Ukraine, the ROA has also been in conflict with another pro-Russian militia, the Vostok Battalion, which accused the ROA of looting, and of avoiding combat.^[10][11]

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