What happened in 1943. Great Patriotic War. The turning point (1943). USSR and allies

The Great Patriotic War is the most important period in modern history, demonstrating the feat and resilience of the Russian people.

After the attack of the fascist army on Soviet Union On June 22, 1941, the country found itself in a deplorable state. The military forces of the USSR were greatly inferior to the power of the Nazi army, and Stalin himself could not believe for several days that the war had begun.

The first battles were lost in disgrace, which convinced the Germans of the effectiveness of the Barbarossa plan. However, the events of the winter of 1941 and subsequent battles showed that capturing the Soviet Union would not be so easy. Now early stage Historians often call wars the most tragic and bloody.

Important dates and events	Description of ongoing military events
*The early stage of hostilities (summer 1941-winter 1942).*	The German attack was sudden and unpredictable, especially in light of the prisoners peace treaties between the USSR and Germany. The Baltic countries, Ukraine and Belarus were the first to be attacked. Since the Germans operated on several fronts, it was difficult to conduct a logical defense; the army was not mobilized. Due to the surprise of the attack, Soviet troops For a long time they could not carry out a competent defense and invariably retreated.
	Almost immediately after the Nazi attack on the USSR, the defense of Hanko began. Despite the stubborn struggle of Soviet soldiers and units of the Finnish army, the base was taken and all local residents were evacuated.
	One of the first battles in the history of the Great Patriotic War. On the morning of June 22, the Brest Fortress was attacked, and local military units heroically defended it for nine days. Despite the heroism of local residents and military personnel, the fortress was taken.
	Baltic military operation became one of the bloodiest in the history of the Great Patriotic War. Despite the efforts of the soldiers, soviet army was driven out of the Baltic states by German forces.
	After fierce fighting, Minsk was captured.
	Defense of the Arctic, which ended in victory for the USSR. At the cost of incredible losses, Soviet troops managed to push the Germans back.
	Due to the unpreparedness of the Soviet troops for war, Kyiv was eventually taken by the Germans, and at a cost huge losses on both sides. The city was destroyed almost to the ground, and the Southwestern Front of the USSR suffered a crushing defeat.
	It was on July 10 that the stoic defense of Leningrad began, which continued with a 3-year blockade. The Soviet troops were defeated, and the Germans managed to quickly capture the main strategic positions. Since the city came under attack from the air, Leningrad suffered its first losses in terms of its architectural appearance. At the end of the war, some parts of the city will be completely destroyed.
	The most important event in the early period of the Great Patriotic War. Despite the final defeat of the Soviet troops and thousands of losses, the USSR managed to thwart the blitzkrieg plan. The quick capture of Smolensk did not work out, despite well-thought-out German tactics. It was this battle that showed the Germans that capturing the USSR would not be as easy as the countries of Europe.
	Soviet troops were defeated, the Kherson and Nikolaev regions of the Ukrainian SSR were captured.
	The heroic defense of Odessa ended in the defeat of the USSR. Local residents were evacuated as planned, but Soviet units still suffered huge losses. Odessa was captured and destroyed.
	The Germans won another victory, and the Soviet troops were thrown back far back. However, the long defense of Tallinn once again thwarted the blitzkrieg, and the war became protracted.
	The war was becoming protracted, and the German plan for the rapid capture of the Soviet Union turned out to be irrelevant. Gradually, the USSR begins to win important strategic victories, for example, in the Yelninsky operation. And even though the preponderance of forces is still on the side of the Germans, the Soviet Union manages to provide worthy resistance.
	The Soviet troops suffered a crushing defeat, the losses at Roslavl and Vyazma were horrific, and the superiority of forces continued to remain on the side of the Germans.
	After fierce defensive battles, the Germans still managed to encircle Leningrad, organizing the longest and most tragic blockade of the city in the entire history of Russia. During the siege of Leningrad, thousands of local residents died, and most often people died not from military shells, but from basic hunger. The city itself was constantly bombed, many architectural monuments were destroyed. Only thanks to the functioning of the “road of life” and rare transmissions from outside the blockade, Leningrad managed to survive. This period is very important for analyzing the history of the Great Patriotic War, because the long-term blockade demonstrated the strength of the Russian people.
	The defense of Moscow consisted of several stages, and until December 5, 1941, Soviet troops only defended themselves, but it was on that day that they went on the offensive. Defensive actions near the capital of the USSR are often called the turning point of the Great Patriotic War. Despite the fact that Germany was stronger militarily and strategically, the USSR managed to win an unconditional victory. The Barbarossa plan collapsed, and the Germans had to urgently come up with new ideas for attacking the Soviet Union.
	The Red Army suffered a crushing defeat, and the Germans managed to advance even further into the country.
	The Germans were able to win a fairly quick and confident victory.
	Despite the fact that the forces of the USSR and Germany were equal, the Soviet Union managed to win a strategic victory. Soviet troops once again showed their endurance, but the USSR's positions were still weak and shaky.
	Soviet troops managed to push the Germans back a little further, but the operation itself had a dual meaning. Due to the defense of Tikhvin, it was not possible to organize a blockade of Leningrad. The constant resistance of the Soviet troops led to the fact that German communications were greatly stretched. In the future, this will affect the deterioration of Germany’s military maneuverability.
	The failure of Soviet troops in Crimea led to the rapid defense of Sevastopol and further defeats on the Southern and Western fronts. Ukraine was literally on fire due to German attacks, but the stoic defense of some areas continued.
	Sevastopol has always been considered an important strategic point, because it was here that maritime communications were provided, and important military units were located here. After the failure of the Crimean defensive operation, Soviet troops had to move to Sevastopol. The defense of the city became one of the bloodiest periods in the entire history of the war. Despite the tenacity of the Soviet soldiers, Sevastopol was nevertheless captured and plundered. Thousands of local residents did not have time to evacuate, and the Germans, angry at such a long defense of the city, began to commit robbery, killing both children and adults. The defeat at Sevastopol is still considered one of the most tragic pages in the history of the Great Patriotic War.
	This battle is considered one of the most important strategic victories of the Soviet Union. Despite the fact that the German troops were better equipped and outnumbered the Russian units, the USSR managed to win a landslide victory. This victory was important from a moral point of view, because it strengthened morale and convinced Soviet soldiers that the Germans could be defeated.
	During this operation, Soviet troops managed to prevent an attack on Moscow from the north and, in principle, curtail German offensive operations against the capital. In addition, this victory created the conditions for a counteroffensive by Soviet troops.
	The most important strategic victory of the USSR helped push the Nazis back and liberate Yelets and Efremov.
	German units retreated 130 kilometers, and Soviet troops finally eliminated the possibility of an attack on the capital.
	The Soviet troops were defeated, but were still able to help the Leningrad occupiers a little, diverting the attention of German units. The losses were enormous, but at the same time the Soviet troops were unable to recapture even a small part of the occupied territories.
	Exhausting battles that lasted more than a year brought victory to the USSR. The Red Army managed to defeat large units German army, which were stationed precisely near Rzhev.
	Soviet troops managed to temporarily delay the advance of the Germans on the Northwestern Front. However, the German army managed to win a strategic victory, breaking through the encirclement of the Red Army.
	Despite all efforts, Soviet troops failed to break through the German defenses on the Bryansk and Western Fronts. At the cost of huge losses, only an advance of 5-20 kilometers was achieved.

The balance of power was clearly in favor fascist Germany, because the USSR was inferior to its rival both in the number of soldiers and in the number of military equipment. However, true heroism Soviet people helped to hold back the enemy for months, not allowing the Germans to advance even a kilometer.

The mercilessly cold winter also had its impact. Thousands of Germans froze in Russian forests, and by the winter of 1942, the Nazi command was finally convinced that the Barbarossa plan had not justified itself. Bloody battles awaited both sides ahead, which finally changed the international balance of military forces.

(1 ratings, average: 5,00 out of 5)

Alla
The greatest problem and question of this period can be considered why the leadership of the USSR, knowing about the impending danger, allowed such a defeat at the first stage of hostilities. Of the two points of view, I can’t lean towards either: 1) The leadership of the USSR was too self-confident, knew about the attack, but overestimated its strength. 2) They simply did not know about the possible attack.
Amirlan
Of all the stages of the war, it was the first stage that was the most disastrous - they gave up Ukraine and Belarus, Leningrad fell into a blockade, almost lost Moscow + entire divisions that were surrounded near Rzhev and Vyazma. Without a doubt, the most difficult and disastrous stage of the war.
Grunge66
The first stage is universally considered a failure on the Soviet side. But if you look at the large losses of the Germans, it becomes clear that Blitzkrieg is not such a Blitzkrieg. The disastrous game of the Abwehr and total partisanship showed from the first days of the war that the German side would sooner or later give up its positions. Of course, the Nazis had moments of victory, but if you think about who the “attacker” is, then the “Soviets” probably had a head start. The first stage was the least disastrous for the Germans in relation to the other “stages”.
Victor Sh
The author of the article written above is nothing more than an eccentric with the letter “M” after the written phrase: “The first battles were lost in disgrace, which convinced the Germans of the effectiveness of the Barbarossa plan... If the author of the article came to this conclusion, then he simply did not read the memoirs of the German generals. And it's not a matter of ideology. Yes, the battles of the summer of 1941 were lost. But they lost with great blood not only for the Red Army, but also for the Wehrmacht.
Behind mediocrity Soviet generals, was a massive feat of ordinary Red Army soldiers and junior commanders. Just after the first days and weeks of fighting, the Germans came to the conclusion that Barbarossa was different from a walk through Europe. Where the Western European countries were shamefully surrendered.
My grandfather fought in July 1941, was seriously wounded in August of the same year, and then from the spring of 1942 to the spring of 1945 he fought in one of the tank brigades. It was a shame that individual fighters and commanders went over to the Nazi side under one pretext or another. To consider everything else a shame is truly a shame for those descendants who did not even bother to study historical documents in more detail.
Ivan
Gentlemen, how can you argue with a person who believes that the USSR fought with the Nazis...
Valery Petrakov
The mediocrity of the political leadership, the command of the Red Army (there were persistent rumors among the people about the betrayal of some of them), the concentration of strategic reserves and warehouses directly on the border - a kind of “gift” to the aggressor, an “offensive” strategy and dozens of other factors led to our great tragedy - the disaster of 1941. It was paid for by many millions of lives of our heroic people. They lied to us for decades that we had fewer troops, tanks, artillery, planes - everything is exactly the same, many times, on the contrary. The Germans in 1941, even in their dreams, did not have our equipment like we had: KV-1, T-34 tanks, amphibious tanks. Even the BA-10 armored car had 45 mm. cannon, and the German HEAVY tank T-4 is just a 50 mm gun with a short barrel (the Germans themselves called it “cigarette butt” and “stump”). During the entire war, the Nazis were unable to create an attack aircraft similar to the IL-2, the B-13 Katyusha rocket launcher, and much more that was in the Red Army at the beginning of the war. Why was the beginning of the Great Patriotic War so mediocre? There are many reasons. In 1917, the extermination began (and did not end until 1941). royal officers- professional defenders of the Fatherland. Instead, they “promoted” people (ideological) who were not militarily educated as commanders. In the Red Army there was an institution of “commissars”; there was no unity of command. They commanded: a battalion, a regiment, a division - two - a commander and a commissar. Napoleon also said: “One bad commander is better than two good ones.” Poor training of commanders, poor communication, dominance of party ideology instead of a clear defensive strategy. The offensive doctrine proclaimed: “The Red Army will be the most offensive army in the world” and “We will fight with little blood on foreign territory.” For all this, the incompetent leadership (of the Bolsheviks) put many millions of our people into the furnace of war the best people. The great tragedy of 1941 - the gene pool of our people was undermined!
Oleg
An incomprehensible selection of events in the first half of the war. For example, the battle for Moscow is highlighted separately, which is of course correct, but at the same time, Kalinin, Vyazemsk, Oryol-Bryansk, Rzhesk, Tula - these are all operations that are part of that very battle for Moscow. The period from January 7 - May 25, 1942 is not written as the Demyansk operation. The reader is left to guess. The author’s defense of Leningrad generally began on June 10, that is, before the start of the war.

Julius Fucik made his last entry in his prison diary:
“People, I loved you! Be careful!
***
Those who have heard at least something about this man will most likely remember that he was executed by the Nazis and before his execution he wrote “Report with a noose around his neck.” Much fewer people will talk about his life. But it was with his life that he earned the right to such a death.

"A bold turn of the head, restless violet eyes. Alive as mercury, smart as the devil, flashing like a spark. A penchant for risk, a love of adventure, contempt for danger and a noble youthful readiness to rush into the fire in the name of an idea." This is how the Czech writer Maja Pumanova remembered him.

Julius Fucik was born on February 23, 1903 in Prague, in the family of a turner. Later, he never forgot to proudly note that he was born on the same day as the Red Army. When did the first one start? world war, his father was sent to work at the Skoda automobile factory in the city of Pilsen. The war had a profound impact on the growing Julius. He spent hours standing in lines for food, listening to conversations, and witnessed demonstrations and strikes by Skoda workers. He saw how Austrian soldiers shot at hungry children, how several hundred people died in the explosion of a military factory.

“I couldn’t help but understand that in a world where people kill each other against their will, being full of a thirst for life, something is going wrong.”

The October Revolution showed how a way out of the deadlock could be found. Its echo spread throughout all European countries. Soviet Russia became an inspiring example for many. When the Communist Party was created in Czechoslovakia, 18-year-old Julius was one of the first to join its ranks. At the same age, Fucik became a student at the University of Prague. He chose the Faculty of Philosophy because even in high school he was interested in culture and art, and read a lot of Czech and world literature. In Prague, a student from a working-class family had to earn his own living and education. He tried many professions - he was a teacher, a builder, sports coach, but journalism became his lifelong vocation.

“Books and theater opened up the world to me. I looked for the truth in them and realized that there are books that speak, there are those that lie, and there are generally dumb ones. It seemed to me that it was necessary to say about this so that there would be neither false nor dumb books. I considered it my duty in the struggle for better world. So I started writing about books and theater."

Fucik could well have made a successful career in any reputable print publication. But he chose the path of communist journalism with all its troubles - low wages, a large amount of work, censorship persecution and arrests. For many years he edited the newspaper "Rude Pravo" and the magazine "Tvorba", and collaborated in a number of other publications. Newspapers and magazines were banned one after another, and Fucik had to hide from the police and write under pseudonyms.

For a long time in the Prague cafe "Rocks" you could meet a certain Mr. Maresh next to the billiard table. In appearance, he resembled a bank employee or sales agent, impeccably dressed, wearing horn-rimmed glasses, a bright tie and a flower in his buttonhole. No one guessed that the decent Mr. Maresh, talking with people in the theater and the press, was the editor of a communist newspaper. Only in this way could Fucik meet with his fellow editors.

As an editor, Julius never sat at his desk and preferred to see the most important things with his own eyes. He visited Austria during the days of the anti-fascist workers' uprising and Germany after the Nazis came to power, both times without documents and at considerable risk to his life. When Czech miners went on strike, Fucik wrote reports from the scene, and if censorship did not let them through, he published an illegal newspaper for the workers. During one of these strikes, he became friends with Gustina Koderzhicheva, who became his faithful companion, comrade, first reader and critic for the rest of his life.

“Life in struggle and frequent separations preserved in us the feeling of the first days: not once, but hundreds of times we experienced the passionate moments of the first embrace... All the years we fought shoulder to shoulder, and all the years we wandered hand in hand through our favorite places. Many We experienced hardships, we also knew many great joys, we were rich with the wealth of the poor - with what is inside us."

Julius Fucik visited the Soviet Union twice. The first time he traveled was in 1930 at the invitation of the Czechoslovak cooperative Intergelpo, located in Kyrgyzstan. Fuchik lived in the USSR for the second time from 1934 to 1936, fleeing the threat of arrest in his homeland. In the Soviet Union he did not feel like a foreigner. And few people mistook him for a foreigner, because people of various nationalities worked on industrialization construction sites, and Fuchik’s slight accent did not bother anyone. For many workers, Julius quickly became their own man, especially since he not only observed and recorded, but also worked together with everyone. He became an honorary soldier of the Kyrgyz Cavalry Division and an honorary deputy of the Frunze City Council.

In his reports, Fuchik tried to write the complete truth. He saw how factories and power plants appeared in a short time in the bare steppe, how the earth was transformed before our eyes by the will of man, how previously unknown benefits of civilization and culture entered people’s lives. But I also saw a shortage of nails, soap, sugar, long lines in stores, torn clothes of workers, and a lack of housing. “Everyone is poor because wealth is being built,” Fucik wrote. And he considered the most important achievement of the new world to be that working people know what they are working for and feel like masters of their destiny and their country.

“Girl, I have never felt as free as I do here. What I see in the USSR exceeds my wildest assumptions. Say hello to everyone and say that what I saw here is worth fighting for.” (From a letter to Gusta Fucikova, 1930)

Fucik presented his impressions of the Soviet Union in two books and a huge number of lectures. These lectures were dispersed, and Fuchik was convicted for them and spent about eight months in prison. Both then and later he was often reproached for idealizing Soviet life. But we must take into account that his assessment of the USSR was also influenced by what was happening in his homeland. It was a time of global economic crisis. Tons of food were destroyed because they could not be sold profitably, and hungry people died on the streets. Mass demonstrations of the unemployed were shot by the police. And only at military factories they worked with all their might, neglecting safety and labor protection. The Second World War was drawing ever closer. Fascist states were gaining strength and expanding their territories. It is not surprising that Fuchik left the Soviet Union with difficult and disturbing feelings.

In 1938, danger approached Czechoslovakia. Hitler laid claim to the Sudetenland, the country's main industrial region. Fucik tirelessly argued in the press that the USSR was the only reliable ally of Czechoslovakia and was ready to come to its aid. But the Czechoslovak ruling circles did not want to accept this help. They were more afraid of the red threat than the brown one. England and France behaved the same way. In September 1938, they concluded the Munich Agreements with Germany and Italy, which paved the way for the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia.

After the Munich capitulation, the activities of the Communist Party and its entire press were banned. When the Nazis occupied all of Czechoslovakia in 1940, Fucik learned that the Gestapo was looking for him. Under the name of teacher Jaroslav Horak, he hid in Prague in different apartments. He became one of the main figures of the underground Central Committee of the Communist Party and led all publishing work.

“Yes, we are underground, but not as buried dead, but as living shoots that are making their way throughout the world towards the spring sun. The first of May heralds this spring, the spring of a free person, the spring of peoples and their brotherhood, the spring of all humanity " (From a leaflet for May 1, 1941)

On April 24, 1942, Gestapo men burst into the apartment where Fucik was meeting with party comrades. All those arrested were thrown into Pankratz prison. Despite the torture and bullying that Julius had to endure, he did not break down, did not give out names, appearances, or codes. Moreover, as a communist, he did not stop his work, remaining in touch with his comrades. During interrogations by the Gestapo, Fucik played a complex game, diverting the investigation, trying to help his comrades who were at large.

Fucik was persistent because he was firmly convinced that he was right. And this conviction helped him write, under inhuman conditions, his main book - “Report with a Noose Around the Neck”, the reading of which gave strength to fighters against fascism in different countries. To last day he remained full of strength and love for life and people.

“We lived for joy, we went into battle for joy, we die for it. Let sadness therefore never be associated with our name.”

He was executed on September 8, 1943. Now this day is celebrated as a day of international solidarity for journalists. Fucik's books became widely known throughout the world, and his name was immortalized in the names of streets, factories, parks and even a mountain peak in Kyrgyzstan. After the restoration of capitalism in Eastern Europe, most of these names were erased, and the name of Fucik began to be deliberately discredited. In his homeland, the new authorities accused him of collaborating with the Gestapo and questioned the authenticity of the "Report with a Noose Around His Neck." Many scientists defended Fucik's good name, and an independent commission in 1995 proved these accusations to be unfounded.

There is no more Julius Fucik Peak in Kyrgyzstan. Where he saw the friendship of peoples and joint work for the common good, now backwardness, poverty, religious fanaticism and interethnic conflicts reign again. Re-reading his books now, we understand that maintaining conquests is even more important than achieving them. And even more deep meaning acquire the famous words of Fucik: “People, I loved you! Be careful!”

January 1 - January 3 - The Northern Group of the Transcaucasian Front goes on the offensive against the 1st German Tank Army.
January 1 - February 4 - North Caucasian offensive operation of the troops of the Southern and Transcaucasian (North Caucasian) fronts.
January - May - Defeat of German Army Group A. Liberation by Soviet troops of most of North Caucasus. Retreat of the 17th German Army to the Taman Peninsula.
January 6 - Introduction of shoulder straps for the army.
January 10 - February 2 - Offensive of the Don Front troops with the aim of eliminating the German troops encircled at Stalingrad (Operation "Ring").
January 12 - January 30 - Offensive operation of the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts in cooperation with the Baltic Fleet (Operation Iskra). Breaking the blockade of Leningrad.
January 13 Law on “total mobilization” in Germany.
January 13 - January 27 - Ostrogozh-Rossoshan offensive operation of the Voronezh Front.
January 14-24 Conference of the Heads of Government of the USA and Great Britain in Casablanca (Morocco).
January 18 Breaking the blockade of Leningrad.
January 24 - February 17 - Voronezh-Kastornensk offensive operation of the Voronezh and Bryansk fronts.
January 25 - Troops of the Voronezh Front liberated Voronezh.
January 26 - Union of troops of the 21st and 62nd armies of the Don Front in Stalingrad at Mamayev Kurgan and dismemberment of the encircled German group into two parts.
January 29 - February 18 - Voroshilovgrad offensive operation of the troops of the South-Western and Southern Fronts.

January 31 - April 5 - Raid of the partisan cavalry unit of M.I. Naumov across the territory of Kursk, Sumy, Poltava, Kirovograd, Odessa, Vinnitsa, Kyiv and Zhitomir regions.
January 31 - Surrender of the southern group of German troops led by Field Marshal Paulus in Stalingrad.
February 2 - Surrender of German troops in the northern part of Stalingrad.
February 2 - March 6 - Offensive operations of the troops of the Voronezh and left wing of the Bryansk (then Central) fronts in the Kursk-Ryl and Kharkov-Poltava directions.
February 2 - May 25 - Raid of S.A. Kovpak’s unit through the Rivne, Zhitomir and Kyiv regions.
February 4 - April 6 - Novorossiysk landing operation Black Sea Group of Forces of the North Caucasus Front together with the Black Sea Fleet.
February 4 - Soviet troops capture a bridgehead in the Myskhako area (south of Novorossiysk).
February 8 - Troops of the Voronezh Front liberated Kursk. Establishment of the Order of Kutuzov, III degree.
February 9 - March 16 - Krasnodar offensive operation of the troops of the North Caucasus Front.
On February 9, American troops captured the island of Guadalcanal.

February 11 Resolution of the State Defense Committee on the creation of Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences, headed by Academician I.V. Kurchatov for the development of atomic weapons.
February 12 - March 21 - Offensive operations of the Bryansk, Central and left wing of the Western Front in the Oryol-Bryansk direction.
February 15 - Introduction of shoulder straps for personnel Navy.
February 15 - February 28 - Liquidation by troops of the North Western Front Demyansk bridgehead.
February 19 - March 23 - Soviet troops repulse the counter-offensive of Army Group South in Donbass and the Kharkov region.
March 2 -31 - Rzhev-Vyazemsk offensive operation of the troops of the Western and Kalinin fronts.
March 3 - Western Front troops liberated Rzhev.

March 4 -19 - Offensive actions of the troops of the North-Western Front in the Staraya Russa area.
March 8 - The first battle of the 1st separate Czechoslovak battalion with German troops near Sokolovo (Kharkov region).
March 12 - Western Front troops liberated Vyazma.
March 21 - May 13 Offensive allied forces in Tunisia.
April 1 - The French Normandie squadron entered combat for the first time as part of the 1st Air Army of the Western Front.
April 4 - June 7 - Offensive operations of the troops of the North Caucasus Front in the Krasnodar-Taman direction.
April 17 - June 7 - Air battles in Kuban.
On April 25, the Soviet Union broke off diplomatic relations with the Polish émigré government in London.
April 29 - Beginning of the formation of the 1st separate Czechoslovak infantry brigade on the territory of the USSR.
May 6 - Beginning of the formation of the 1st Polish Infantry Division named after Todeusz Kosciuszko on the territory of the USSR.
May 12-15 Second Washington Conference of Heads of Government of the USA and Great Britain. (Trident Conference).
May 13 Surrender of Italian-German troops in North Africa.
May 15 Self-dissolution of the Communist International.
May 27 Formation of the National Council of Resistance in France.
May - June - Fights Soviet partisans, based in the Bryansk forests, with a large punitive expedition of the enemy.
June 3 Creation of the French Committee of National Liberation in Algeria.
June 8-10 - Soviet Air Force operations to destroy enemy aircraft at airfields.
July 5 - August 23 - Battle of Kursk.
July 5-15 - Defensive operation of the troops of the Central Front in the Oryol-Kursk direction.
July 5-23 - Defensive operation of the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts in the Belgorod-Kursk direction.
July 12 - August 23 - Counter-offensive of Soviet troops on the Kursk Bulge.

July 10 Anglo-American troops land in Sicily.
July 12 - Counter tank battle in the Prokhorovka area.
July 12 - August 18 - Oryol operation of the troops of the left wing of the Western, Bryansk and Central fronts.
July 22 - August 4 - Mginsk operation of troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts.
July 25 - Fall of Mussolini's regime.
August 3-23 - Belgorod-Kharkov operation of troops of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts.
August 3 - September 15 - The first stage of the operation of Soviet partisans to destroy enemy railway communications (“Rail War”).
August 5 - Liberation of Orel and Belgorod. The first artillery salute was given in Moscow.
August 7 - October 2 - Smolensk operation of the Kalinin and Western fronts.
August 13 - September 22 - Donbass operation of troops of the South-Western and Southern Fronts.
August 17-24 First Quebec Conference of the Heads of Government of the United States and Great Britain.
August Japan announced the "independence" of Burma.
August 23 - Troops of the Steppe Front, with the assistance of troops of the Voronezh and Southwestern Fronts, liberated Kharkov.
August 26 - October 1 - Chernigov-Pripyat operation of the troops of the Central Front.
August 26 - December 22 - Battle of the Dnieper.

September 1 - October 3 - Bryansk operation of the Bryansk Front.
September 2 - Troops of the Voronezh Front liberated Sumy.
September 3 - Allied troops begin landing in the south of the Apennine Peninsula.
September 8 - Troops of the Southern Front liberated Stalino (Donetsk). Capitulation of Italy. Occupation by German troops of Northern and Central Italy.
September 9-16 - Novorossiysk operation of the troops of the North Caucasus Front and Black Sea Fleet.
September 9 - October 9 - Novorossiysk-Taman operation of the troops of the North Caucasus Front and the Black Sea Fleet.
On September 9, the Italian fleet surrendered to the Allies. German troops occupied Northern and Central Italy.
September 9 Creation of the National Liberation Committee in Italy.
September 16 - Troops of the North Caucasus Front, together with the Black Sea Fleet, liberated Novorossiysk.
September 17 - Troops of the Bryansk Front liberated Bryansk.
September 19 - October 31 - The second stage of the operation of the Soviet partisans to destroy railway communications (“Concert”).

September 21 - Introduction of shoulder straps for Suvorov officers.
September 21-22 - Troops of the Central and Voronezh Fronts reach the Dnieper.
September 22-30 - Forces crossed the Central, Voronezh, South-Western and Steppe fronts of the Dnieper and captured bridgeheads on its right bank.
September 23 - Troops of the Steppe Front liberated Poltava.
September 25 - Western Front troops liberated Smolensk.
September 26 - Troops of the Bryansk Front liberated Khotimsk. The beginning of the liberation of Belarus.
September 26 - November 5 - Melitopol operation of the troops of the Southern Front.
September 29 - Troops of the Steppe Front liberated Kremenchug.
October 4 - Beginning of the formation of the 1st Romanian Volunteer Division named after Tudor Vladimirescu.
October 6-11 - Nevelsk operation of the Kalinin Front troops.
October 9 - Complete liberation of the Taman Peninsula. Completion of the Battle for the Caucasus.
October 10 - Establishment of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky I, II and III degrees.
October 10-14 - Troops Southwestern Front liquidated the German bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper and liberated Zaporozhye.
October 12 - Battle of the 1st Polish Division named after Todeusz Kosciuszko near Lenino as part of the 33rd Army of the Western Front.
On October 13, the Italian government of Badoglio declared war on Germany. The USA, USSR and Great Britain recognized Italy as a joint belligerent.
October 19-30 Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers of the USSR, USA and Great Britain.
October 23 - Troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front liberated Melitopol.
October 25 - Troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts Dnepropetrovsk and Dneprodzerzhinsk were liberated.
October 26 - Introduction of shoulder straps for Nakhimovites.
October 31 - Troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front reached Sivash and Perekop.
October 31 - December 11 - Kerch-Eltigen landing operation of the troops of the North Caucasus Front, the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Flotilla.
November 3-13 - Kyiv offensive operation of the 1st Ukrainian Front.
November 6 - Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front liberated Kyiv.
November 10-30 - Gomel-Rechitsa operation of the troops of the Belarusian Front.
November 13 - December 22 - Kiev defensive operation of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front.
November 22-26 Cairo Conference of the Heads of Government of the USA, Great Britain and China.
November 26 - The troops of the Belorussian Front liberated Gomel.
November 28 - December 1 - Tehran Conference of the Heads of Government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain.
November 29 Education National Committee Liberation of Yugoslavia.
December 12 Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Post-War Cooperation.
December 13-31 - Gorodok operation of the troops of the 1st Baltic Front.
December 14 - Troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front liberated Cherkasy.

TIME: 50 min.

VENUE: club

STUDY QUESTIONS:

Completion Battle of Stalingrad.
Breaking the blockade of Leningrad.
North Caucasian operation "Small Land".
Battle of Kursk.
Battle of the Dnieper.
Battle for Novorossiysk.

LITERATURE:

G.A. Kumanev 1941-1945 Brief history, documents, photographs

PROGRESS OF INFORMATION:

TOPIC 4:"The most important operations of the Red Army and Navy in 1943."

From the first days of 1943, reports from the Sovinformburo brought joyful news about new victories in the battle against fascism.

The operations of the Soviet troops were carried out in accordance with the offensive plan developed by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command during the second winter campaign and in 1943. It provided for the consistent introduction of the main forces of the Red Army along almost the entire length of the Soviet-German front - from Lake Ladoga to the Black Sea. During the offensive, it was necessary to finally wrest the strategic initiative from the hands of the enemy and launch a massive expulsion of the Nazi invaders from Soviet land. At the same time, the main efforts of the Red Army were concentrated on the southern wing of the front, where the Nazis had already suffered powerful blows at the end of the last year of the war.

By the beginning of 1943, the Soviet Armed Forces were opposed by 195 divisions and 2 brigades - 73 percent of all enemy troops and about 60 percent of the aviation of Nazi Germany, as well as 66 divisions and 13 brigades of its allies. Due to the absence of a second front in Europe, the Soviet Union was left alone in a cruel and difficult struggle to grind down the selected and most combat-ready formations of the fascist bloc. In January 1943, offensive operations of the Red Army unfolded in the Stalingrad region, in the North Caucasus, Upper Don, near Leningrad, in the Donbass, in the area of Rzhev and Demyansk.

The task of eliminating the encircled Nazi group at Stalingrad was assigned to the troops of the Don Front (commander - General K.K. Rokossovsky). It was planned to cut this grouping apart with strikes from several directions and destroy it piece by piece.

Fierce fighting continued for more than three weeks. On January 20, Colonel General Paulus asked Hitler for consent to surrender. But the fascist Fuhrer did not want to hear about the surrender of the encircled troops, although it was obvious that their further resistance was pointless. On the morning of January 22, Paulus repeated his request, but received the same negative answer in categorical form.

The denouement was approaching. On January 25, units of the 21st Army broke into Stalingrad from the west and the next day in the area of Mamayev Kurgan they united with the troops of the 62nd Army. Thus, the surrounded group was divided into two parts (southern and northern). Her combat effectiveness dropped sharply.

On January 31, the southern group capitulated. On the same day, the commander of the 6th German Army, F. Paulus, who had been promoted to field marshal by Hitler the day before, was captured along with his staff.

On February 2, after a powerful fire strike from Soviet artillery, the northern group also stopped resisting. This meant the victorious finale of the grandiose Battle of Stalingrad, which lasted 200 days and nights. During the war, the largest strategic group of Nazi troops suffered a crushing defeat. Total losses The enemy killed, wounded, captured and missing amounted to about one and a half million soldiers and officers. Only from January 10 to February 2, 1943, during the liquidation of the enemy encircled at Stalingrad, 22 divisions were defeated.

In this battle, the Soviet Union dealt a crushing blow not only to selected enemy troops, but also to the entire socio-political system of fascism. The world saw that until recently the powerful German fascist machine had significantly broken down. The morale of the troops of the Hitler bloc was greatly undermined.

Germany entered a period of deep crisis; its ally Japan, as well as Türkiye, finally abandoned plans to start a war against the USSR.

The victory at the walls of Stalingrad was the beginning of a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and the entire Second World War. It created favorable opportunities for delivering subsequent powerful attacks on the enemy. Having firmly seized the initiative into their own hands, the USSR Armed Forces began the massive expulsion of the invaders from Soviet soil.

Of particular importance in the second winter campaign was the breakthrough of the enemy blockade of Leningrad. This difficult operation was carried out in January 1943 by troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts.

There was a large enemy group near Leningrad: the 18th German Army, which besieged the city from the south and southeast, had 25 divisions, and the Finnish army, which closed the blockade ring from the north, had about 5 divisions. During the sixteen months of the most brutal siege of Leningrad, the enemy created powerful strongholds around the city, making maximum use of the natural boundaries that were already advantageous to him.

On January 12, through the Shlisselburg-Sinyavinsky ledge, soldiers of the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front and the 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front, supported by two air armies, rushed towards each other. On the sixth day of the offensive, despite stubborn enemy resistance, they united in the areas of workers' settlements No. 5 and No. 1.

Thus the months-long enemy blockade of the city of Lenin was broken.

The most important link in the overall offensive of the Red Army, which unfolded at the beginning of the year, was the North Caucasus operation of the Southern and Transcaucasian fronts in cooperation with the Black Sea Fleet. Main goal This operation, carried out from January 1 to February 4, 1943, consisted of the defeat of enemy groups concentrated here and the liberation of the industrial and agricultural areas of the Don, Kuban and Terek.

In an effort to avoid encirclement of its troops in the North Caucasus, from January 1, the Nazi command began to withdraw them from the Mozdok-Nalchik region in a northwestern direction. Units of the Red Army relentlessly pursued the stubbornly resisting enemy.

The battle for the Caucasus flared up with new strength. By the beginning of February, the main group of enemy troops was forced to retreat to Taman, and a small part to Rostov. At the same time, Hitler hoped to retain the Taman Peninsula at any cost, so that from here in the summer of 1943 he could launch a new attack on the Caucasus. Therefore, the Nazis did everything possible to prevent Soviet troops from breaking through here. They especially strengthened the area of Novorossiysk, where fierce fighting had been going on for several months. The landing on the outskirts of the city on February 4, 1943 under the command of Major Ts. L. Kunikov marked the beginning of the creation of an important bridgehead, which went down in history under the name “Malaya Zemlya”. For 225 days it was heroically defended by the valiant soldiers of the 18th Army and Black Sea sailors.

Inspired by the communists, the glorious defenders of “Malaya Zemlya” largely contributed to the defeat of the Nazi invaders near Novorossiysk in the fall of 1943.

The Red Army's offensive operations in the North Caucasus continued until mid-February. By this time, Soviet troops had advanced 160-600 kilometers, clearing most of the territory of the North Caucasus and the Rostov region from enemy occupation.

On February 15, taking advantage of the favorable situation created, the soldiers of the North-Western Front went on the offensive in the areas of Demyansk and Staraya Russa. The offensive continued here until March 1, as a result of which the Demyansk bridgehead, which the enemy had held for almost a year and a half, was eliminated. By the end of March, they managed to clear the enemy from the Rzhev-Vyazma ledge, which the Nazis called “a pistol aimed at the chest of Moscow.”

As a result of stubborn battles, the front line moved away from the Soviet capital by another 130-160 kilometers.

The fighting of the Red Army in the winter of 1942/43 put Hitler's troops in a difficult situation. However, the fascist command managed to send new reserves from Western Europe, regrouped troops and temporarily achieved stabilization of the front line. In Left Bank Ukraine and Donbass, the enemy even launched a counter-offensive and in March 1943 again captured Kharkov, which had previously been liberated by the Red Army.

During the winter campaign, the Soviet Armed Forces successfully solved a number of important strategic tasks. From November 1942 to the end of March 1943, they defeated more than 100 enemy divisions, or more than 40 percent of all forces operating against the USSR. During this time, the Red Army pushed back the fascist troops almost 600-700 kilometers, and an area of over 480 thousand square kilometers was cleared of the invaders.

By the spring of 1943, there was a lull on the battlefields. Both warring sides made accelerated preparations for new active actions.

Nazi Germany sought to restore its shaky position in the Eastern Front, take revenge for the defeat at Stalingrad and turn the tide of the war in your favor.

By the beginning of the third year of the war, Nazi Germany had 42 more divisions on the Soviet-German front than at the beginning of hostilities against the USSR. However, these forces were not enough to conduct offensive operations simultaneously in several strategic directions. Hitler's command decided to organize a powerful offensive on only one - Kursk - sector of the front. The developed plan, called “Citadel,” was based on the idea of using unexpected counter concentric attacks from Orel and Belgorod to encircle and destroy Soviet troops on the Kursk salient of the front, and then develop an offensive into the interior of the country. By July 1943, the enemy had concentrated up to 50 of its best divisions in the Kursk area, including 16 tank and motorized divisions, large artillery and aviation forces. In total, in the Battle of Kursk, the enemy planned to use more than a third of all German formations located on the Soviet-German front. The Nazis were preparing the massive use of new heavy tanks "Tiger", "Panther" and self-propelled guns "Ferdinand".

All this indicated that the armed forces of the fascist bloc were still a powerful military machine, the complete defeat of which required enormous efforts. In the order Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin on February 23, 1943 said: “The enemy has been defeated, but he is not yet defeated. The Nazi army is experiencing a crisis due to the blows it received from the Red Army, but this does not mean that it cannot recover. The fight against the German invaders is not over yet - it is only unfolding and flaring up. It would be foolish to believe that the Germans would leave even a kilometer of our land without a fight.”

The plan of the Soviet command was distinguished by great courage and originality. The transition to temporary deliberate defense was the most advantageous way to bleed enemy strike forces during a defensive battle and thereby create favorable conditions for the Soviet troops to launch a counteroffensive and a general offensive. According to the developed plan, preparations for the battle of Kursk were carried out by troops of several fronts. The supply of Soviet troops with everything necessary continued to increase steadily.

Back to top Battle of Kursk the preparation for it of units and formations of the Bryansk, Central, Voronezh, Steppe, Southwestern Fronts, as well as the left wing of the Western Front, was virtually completed.

At dawn on July 5, 1943, the Nazis attacked the defenses of the Soviet fronts. The battle immediately became very intense.

Soviet soldiers stubbornly defended each defensive line, destroying thousands of enemy soldiers and officers, hundreds of tanks, assault guns and other military equipment.

On July 12, 1943, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to introduce large tank and combined arms reserves into the battle. In the fields near the hitherto little-known village of Prokhorovka, a tank battle unprecedented in the history of war unfolded, in which about 1,200 armored vehicles took part on both sides. Hitler threw his choice here tank divisions SS – “Totenkopf”, “Reich”, “Adolf Hitler”.

In heavy fighting, the enemy was exhausted and bleeding. Units of the Red Army launched a counteroffensive. On August 5, overcoming stubborn enemy resistance, Soviet troops captured Orel and Belgorod. On August 23, Kharkov was taken by storm. Starting with these victories, fireworks began to celebrate every major victory of the Red Army.

The victory at Kursk was the hardest defeat for Nazi Germany, from which the enemy was unable to recover until the end of the war. It further changed the balance of forces in favor of the Red Army, creating favorable conditions for its general offensive. In this battle, the offensive strategy of the Wehrmacht suffered a final collapse.

The Soviet Armed Forces retained the strategic initiative and did not lose it until the end of the war.

After the victorious conclusion of the Battle of Kursk, a general summer offensive of the Soviet troops followed. It unfolded on a front from Nevel to the Sea of Azov with a length of up to 2 thousand kilometers. During three months of offensive battles, Red Army soldiers liberated hundreds of major cities and populated areas.

A major event of the second period of the Great Patriotic War was the Battle of the Dnieper. It was here that Hitler hoped to create an impregnable “Eastern Wall” and move on to a protracted positional war in order to gradually exhaust the forces of the Red Army. But this plan was thwarted by the Soviet command.

The Soviet troops liberating Ukraine faced a difficult task: without slowing down the pace of the offensive, overcome the Dnieper on the move and destroy the “Eastern Wall” created by the enemy.

Side by side with the soldiers of the Red Army, 11 partisan formations were preparing to cross the Dnieper.

At the end of August 1943, Red Army troops, through the coordinated efforts of four fronts, broke through the enemy defenses. By the end of September, Donbass and large areas of Left Bank Ukraine were cleared of the enemy.

Consistently implementing the developed plan, the Soviet command increased strikes against the enemy in other sectors of the Soviet-German front. On September 10, at the direction of Headquarters, the troops of the North Caucasus Front went on the offensive again. They were faced with the task of clearing the Black Sea coast of the Novorossiysk region from the enemy and liberating the Taman Peninsula.

On the very first day of the offensive, advanced landing detachment No. 2 under the command of Lieutenant Commander V.A. Botylev broke into the Novorossiysk port and captured the railway station. Following him, other landing troops landed.

At the same time, soldiers of the 18th Army made their way into the city from the north. From the south, the Nazi positions were stormed by the Little Lands. The fight was for everyone square meter cities. But no matter how the enemy resisted, the onslaught Soviet soldiers and the sailors were unstoppable.

On September 14, the Malozemeltsy united with the troops advancing from Mainland, and on September 16, Moscow saluted the soldiers of the North Caucasus Front and the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet, who won complete victory in the battle for Novorossiysk.

The defeat of fascist troops in Novorossiysk was the beginning of the collapse of the enemy’s powerful defensive fortifications - the so-called “Blue Line” - and was important for expelling the enemy from the Taman Peninsula and the beginning of our offensive on Crimea, and thereby the beginning of the liberation of Ukraine. The victory in Novorossiysk created favorable conditions for completing the battle for the complete liberation of the Caucasus from the Nazi invaders.

The defeat of Nazi troops near Novorossiysk provided favorable conditions for the defeat of the enemy Taman group.

Thus ended the battle for the Caucasus victoriously, which was a significant milestone in the armed confrontation of the Soviet people with fascism.

At the beginning of September 1943, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command directed Soviet troops to accomplish an extremely important task - to reach the Dnieper on a wide front and cross this powerful water barrier on the move. Without slowing down the pace of the offensive, by the end of September, units of the Red Army reached the Dnieper along a 750-kilometer front and immediately began crossing it.

The battle for the Dnieper lasted almost the entire month of October. The enemy launched counterattacks, trying to throw Soviet troops from the bridgeheads they had captured into the river. However, the Red Army repelled the onslaught of Nazi troops.

After fierce fighting, the capital of Soviet Ukraine was liberated. In the battles for Kyiv, the soldiers of the Red Army inflicted enormous damage on the enemy, completely defeating 15 divisions.

As a result of the liberation of Kyiv, a large bridgehead was formed to the west of it, which was of great strategic importance. Realizing this, the enemy transferred fresh reinforcements here and launched a new counteroffensive in mid-November. At the cost of heavy losses, on November 25 he managed to advance 35-40 kilometers towards Kyiv and recapture Zhitomir. However, further advance of enemy troops was stopped. With combined blows, the troops of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts defeated the fascist group. Having finally lost all hope of holding the “Eastern Wall” in their hands, the Nazis rolled to the west.

The Battle of the Dnieper was brilliantly won by the Armed Forces of the USSR and was one of major events second period of the Great Patriotic War.

By the beginning of November, the Red Army had already liberated almost two-thirds of the Soviet land they had occupied from enemy troops. In the summer-autumn battles of 1943, over 100 German divisions were defeated. The past year in the Great Patriotic War turned out to be a turning point, primarily because the Red Army managed to carry out a large summer offensive for the first time during the war, and also because in a relatively short period of time it was possible to defeat the most experienced old cadres of the fascist troops, at the same time strengthening and multiplying its own personnel in successful offensive battles.

February 1, 1943. 590th day of the war

After several days of fighting, tankers and infantrymen of the 3rd Tank Army (P.S. Rybalko) of the Voronezh Front (F.I. Golikov) managed to break enemy resistance, and on the night of February 9-10 the cities of Pecheneg and Chuguev in the eastern and southeastern approaches to Kharkov. The Seversky Donets was forced, and only a couple of tens of kilometers remained to Kharkov in a straight line. The 69th Army captured Volchansk, advanced to the Northern Donets, crossed it along the ice, and by the end of February 10 approached the internal defensive perimeter of Kharkov

Demyansk operation. (see map Demyansk operation (61 KB)) The Demyansk offensive operation of the troops of the Northwestern Front (S.K. Timoshenko) began with the aim of eliminating the Demyansk bridgehead, on which the main forces of the 16th German Army were concentrated - a total of 12 divisions. The 11th and 53rd armies went on the offensive. The enemy guessed the plan of the front command and, fearing a “cauldron,” accelerated the withdrawal of its troops from the Demyansk area, while simultaneously increasing the forces defending the “Ramushevsky corridor.” The main shock groups of the North-Western Front - the 27th and 1st shock armies, which were supposed to cut the “Ramushevsky corridor” with counter strikes - did not have time to prepare for the offensive. The 27th Army was able to begin the task instead of the 19th only on February 23, and the 1st Shock Army only on February 26.

Kharkov offensive operation. On February 15, Soviet troops made their way into Kharkov simultaneously from three sides: from the west, north and southeast. The first to break into the city on the morning of February 15 was the 340th Infantry Division of Major General S.S. Martirosyan of the 40th Army (K.S. Moskalenko) of the Voronezh Front (F.I. Golikov). Its regiments captured the South Station, penetrated the city center, cleared Dzerzhinsky and Tevelev squares, as well as the building that once housed the Central Executive Committee of the Ukrainian SSR. Above him, a group of machine gunners from the 1142nd Infantry Regiment hoisted a red banner. At 11.00, the regiments of the 183rd Infantry Division of General Kostitsyn broke through the defenses of the “Great Germany” units in the Dergachi area and reached the northern part of the city. By 17:00 on February 15, the troops of the 40th Army cleared the southwestern, western and northwestern parts of the city from the enemy. From the east and southeast, units of the 62nd Guards Rifle and 160th Rifle Divisions of the 3rd Tank Army (P.S. Rybalko) of the Voronezh Front (F.I. Golikov) entered Kharkov. At 14.00, despite Hitler’s order to hold the city, units of “Greater Germany” began to withdraw to the area of the city of Lyubotin, west of Kharkov. The commander of the group, Lanz, who belonged to the mountain troops, was replaced a few days later by General of the Panzer Troops Kempf.

Voroshilovgrad operation. The Voroshilovgrad operation ended: enemy troops were thrown back 120-150 km, liberated northern part Donbass, the task of encircling and defeating the 1st German Tank Army and complete liberation The troops of the Southwestern Front failed to complete Donbass.

Army Group Center. On February 27, the German command ordered the withdrawal of the troops of the 9th Army, the main forces of the 4th Army and the 3rd Tank Army from the Rzhev-Vyazma ledge. Troops are sent to strengthen groups near Orel and Kharkov.

Sovinformburo. During February 27, our troops fought offensive battles in the same directions.

February 28, 1943. 617th day of the war

Demyansk operation. The Demyansk offensive operation of the troops of the Northwestern Front (S.K. Timoshenko) ended. Pursuing the retreating enemy, formations of the Northwestern Front reached the Lovat River by February 28, thereby eliminating the Demyansk bridgehead, which the enemy had held for almost a year and a half. However, the North-Western Front failed to fully implement the plan of the Headquarters. The changed situation on this section of the front, as well as the onset of the spring thaw, forced the Soviet command to abandon the planned deep strike of the mobile group in the north-west direction to the rear of the 18th German Army.

Kharkov offensive operation. 15th Tank Corps of the 3rd Tank Army (P.S. Rybalko), together with the 219th rifle division Sokolov's groups captured the Leninsky Factory and Shlyakhovaya. By the evening of February 28, Soviet troops liberated Kegichevka and took up a perimeter defense there.

From 22.00 February 28 3rd tank army was transferred to the Southwestern Front. By the end of February 28, the 3rd Tank Army received the task of part of the forces to go on the defensive, and the strike group of the army, under the leadership of the commander of the 12th tank corps Zinkovich, on the morning of March 2, go on the offensive from the Kegichevka area in the direction of Mironovka and Lozovenka.

Army Group South. Manstein: “After, as a result of this victory between the Donets and the Dnieper, the initiative was again in our hands, the group, in accordance with the order given back on February 28, began an attack on the enemy’s Voronezh front, that is, on his troops located in the Kharkov region. We intended to strike the enemy's southern flank in order to push him from the south, or - if this turned out to be possible - to later strike him in the rear from the east. Our goal was not to capture Kharkov, but to defeat and, if possible, destroy the enemy units located there.”

Chronicle of the Great Patriotic War 1941: June · July · August · September · October · November · December · 1942: January · February · March … Wikipedia