Lev Ruka (1902–1942) was a Bosken nationalist, military officer, terrorist, and revolutionary who founded the militant separatist organization BRC-21. As the group’s first leader, he established its ideological foundations of armed struggle against the Kresimirian state and is considered the father of the modern Bosken independence movement. He led the organization for over two decades until he was killed in a targeted operation by Kresimirian security forces.
Early Life and Kresimirian Unification War
Born into a military family in Boskenmark, Ruka was groomed for a military career from a young age. He was commissioned as a Captain in the Bosken contingent of the Vosti Empire’s army. In 1918, at the time of the empire’s collapse, he was stationed in the city of Brod Moravice.
As Kresimirian Centralist Faction forces advanced south, Ruka, then just 16 years old, refused to stand down. He organized a local militia and took up arms, joining the Eastern Pravoslavic Confederacy in its fight to unite with Boskenmark. He served with distinction throughout the war, earning a reputation for tactical boldness and a fanatical commitment to the cause. As the Confederacy faced total collapse in mid-1921, Ruka avoided capture by fleeing across the border into Boskenmark.
Founding of BRC-21
The Treaty of Sinj and the formal establishment of the Divine Republic of Kresimiria, which placed Moraviskameja under Kresimirian rule, was seen by Ruka as an intolerable betrayal. Believing that the war for independence had only just begun, he secretly returned to Brod Moravice in September 1921.
There, he gathered a cadre of like-minded veterans and nationalist ideologues. On November 19, 1921, Ruka proclaimed the formation of the Bosken Revolutionary Council for 1921 (BRC-21). The name was a deliberate and defiant mockery of the Kresimirian Revolutionary People’s Council. Under Ruka’s leadership, BRC-21 adopted a platform of uncompromising irredentism, rejecting all Kresimirian authority and committing to armed struggle as the only path to liberation.
Leadership and Major Actions
As leader of BRC-21, Ruka was the chief architect of the Bosken insurgency. He established a clandestine network of cells throughout Moraviskameja and neighboring districts, launching a campaign of guerrilla warfare targeting Kresimirian state infrastructure, security forces, and officials.
He was the driving force behind the 1923 Sprodvice Road Ambush. Perhaps the most infamous act carried out under his direct command was the 1924 assassination of Senator Ivana Simuna. The decision to eliminate Simuna after her public turn toward moderation sent a clear and brutal message: BRC-21 would not tolerate any dissent or compromise from within the Bosken political class. This act cemented the group’s reputation for ruthlessness and set the tone for the violent decades that followed.
Assassination
See: Assassination of Lev Ruka
For twenty years, Lev Ruka was Kresimiria’s most wanted man. The Council for Internal Affairs dedicated significant resources to his capture. In the spring of 1942, acting on intelligence from an informant, a special operations unit tracked Ruka to a safe house in a rural area near the city of Pulma, in District VII (Ravna Skrad).
On June 17, 1942, Kresimirian forces surrounded the safe house. Ruka and his bodyguards refused to surrender, resulting in an intense firefight. Lev Ruka was killed in the ensuing battle.
Aftermath
The Kresimirian government celebrated Ruka’s death as a major victory, hoping it would cripple the insurgency. However, the BRC-21 leadership structure proved resilient. Ruka was swiftly succeeded by his trusted deputy, Neda Orlak, who continued the armed struggle for another two decades.
Legacy
Lev Ruka is a figure of profound division. To the Kresimirian state and public, he is remembered as a terrorist and a murderer who initiated a cycle of violence that lasted for generations. Within the Bosken nationalist movement, however, he is revered as a heroic founding father and a martyr who refused to bow to foreign occupation. His unwavering commitment to armed struggle remains the ideological touchstone for modern hardline groups like AFIM, which was formed by militants who rejected the peaceful path eventually taken by Ruka’s successors.