Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
⭐️ #OTD in 1944, Soviet troops launched the Baltic Offensive. The German command hoped to contain Soviet troops in the Baltic Region for at least a half a year but it only took the Red Army 71 days to liberate it.
🔻 German troops seized most of the Baltic Region in the summer of 1941. Relying on local collaborators, the Nazis established a tough occupational regime and carried out the mass murder of Jews, communists, Soviet workers and people considered the intelligentsia.
🔻 The large-scale operation allowed the Red Army to liberate much of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and created the conditions to push the Nazis out of East Prussia. Germany lost an important food base and a convenient bridgehead for a strike against the Soviet troops advancing in East Prussia.
#Victory77 #WeRemember
🔻 German troops seized most of the Baltic Region in the summer of 1941. Relying on local collaborators, the Nazis established a tough occupational regime and carried out the mass murder of Jews, communists, Soviet workers and people considered the intelligentsia.
🔻 The large-scale operation allowed the Red Army to liberate much of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and created the conditions to push the Nazis out of East Prussia. Germany lost an important food base and a convenient bridgehead for a strike against the Soviet troops advancing in East Prussia.
#Victory77 #WeRemember
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
#OTD in 1815 the #HolyAlliance was formed in Paris by Alexander I of Russia, Francis I of Austria, and Frederick William III of Prussia - following the victory of the Coalition in the Napoleonic Wars.
✍️ It was eventually signed by all European rulers except the Prince Regent of Britain, the Ottoman sultan, and the Pope.
☝️ The principal aim of the Alliance was to make every effort to prevent the revolutionary influence.
✝️ Its main purpose - promoting Christian principles in the affairs of nations
🤝 The Union organized four Congresses to work out the principle of intervention into the European countries home affairs.
✍️ It was eventually signed by all European rulers except the Prince Regent of Britain, the Ottoman sultan, and the Pope.
☝️ The principal aim of the Alliance was to make every effort to prevent the revolutionary influence.
✝️ Its main purpose - promoting Christian principles in the affairs of nations
🤝 The Union organized four Congresses to work out the principle of intervention into the European countries home affairs.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
☢️ #OTD in 1954, the US tested its largest nuclear weapon, a 15 megatonne bomb codenamed Castle Bravo, at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
☝️ Dozens of Micronesians were exposed to high levels of radiation. To this day, many of the islands there remain uninhabitable.
#NeverForget
☝️ Dozens of Micronesians were exposed to high levels of radiation. To this day, many of the islands there remain uninhabitable.
#NeverForget
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🕯 #OTD in 1943, Nazi invaders destroyed the Belarusian village #Khatyn, burned alive & shot almost all of its inhabitants - 149 people, including 75 children.
☝️ #WeRemember how much grief Nazism brought to our peoples. The lessons of #WWII shall not be subject to oblivion!
☝️ #WeRemember how much grief Nazism brought to our peoples. The lessons of #WWII shall not be subject to oblivion!
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🛡 #OTD 22 years ago, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (#SCO) was founded - a multilateral association aimed at ensuring peace, security and stability and jointly countering new security challenges and threats to member states.
Today, the SCO is made up of eight countries: its founding members – Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan – as well as India and Pakistan, which joined in 2017. Iran is also expected to become a full SCO member at the upcoming summit (July 3-4, New Delhi).
In June 2002, the organisation's member states signed the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation that cemented the SCO's focus on the positive promotion of multidimensional cooperation and its non-targeting of third countries and organisations. Today the SCO continues to firmly rule out bloc, ideological and confrontational approaches to solving international and regional development problems.
🤝 One of the most important areas of SCO activity is joint efforts to combat terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking and transnational organised crime. The SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure operates in Tashkent on a permanent basis to ensure effective cooperation between the competent authorities of the member states in these areas.
🌐 The SCO's legal framework for relations with the United Nations and its agencies continues to expand. Partnerships have been established with the #CIS, #CSTO, #EEC, #ASEAN and a number of other multilateral associations that share similar principles of constructive development.
Today, the SCO is made up of eight countries: its founding members – Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan – as well as India and Pakistan, which joined in 2017. Iran is also expected to become a full SCO member at the upcoming summit (July 3-4, New Delhi).
In June 2002, the organisation's member states signed the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation that cemented the SCO's focus on the positive promotion of multidimensional cooperation and its non-targeting of third countries and organisations. Today the SCO continues to firmly rule out bloc, ideological and confrontational approaches to solving international and regional development problems.
🤝 One of the most important areas of SCO activity is joint efforts to combat terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking and transnational organised crime. The SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure operates in Tashkent on a permanent basis to ensure effective cooperation between the competent authorities of the member states in these areas.
🌐 The SCO's legal framework for relations with the United Nations and its agencies continues to expand. Partnerships have been established with the #CIS, #CSTO, #EEC, #ASEAN and a number of other multilateral associations that share similar principles of constructive development.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
✈️ #OTD in 1937, three Soviet aviators set off on the legendary non-stop flight from Moscow to Vancouver via the North Pole. The crew – commander Valery Chkalov, co-pilot Georgy Baidukov and navigator Alexander Belyakov – pursued an ambitious goal: to connect the continents along the shortest route, across the Arctic Ocean, for the first time in history.
🧊 Soviet aircraft designer Andrei Tupolev developed the ANT-25, a single-engine aircraft with an especially wide wingspan, specifically for this endeavour and for other long-haul flights. Due to this design, the plane could take more fuel, and had a better capability to glide.
🧊 The flight took a total of 63 hours and 16 minutes. The Arctic weather with its low temperatures gave the crew the greatest trouble. The ice from the cockpit windows had to be cut off by hand with a sheath knife. Because of the clouds, the crew had to either pilot the plane blindly or change course, and overspent about 300 litres of fuel.
🧊 Initially, the crew planned to land in San Francisco, but due to excessive fuel consumption, it was decided to land in Vancouver. They failed to break the world flight range record, but in less than a month this was achieved by another Soviet crew under the command of Mikhail Gromov.
🧊 Despite this, Valery Chkalov and his crew's flight became a major event in the history of world aviation. It showcased Soviet achievement in advanced aircraft construction, and proved to the whole world the exceptional professionalism and courage of Soviet aviators.
🤝 The feat of the three pilots was widely covered by the press, both in the Soviet Union and in America. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt personally received the crew in the Oval Office of the White House. The transpolar flight contributed to the establishment of friendly relations between the two countries, and paved the way for fruitful cooperation between the USSR and the United States during World War II.
🧊 Soviet aircraft designer Andrei Tupolev developed the ANT-25, a single-engine aircraft with an especially wide wingspan, specifically for this endeavour and for other long-haul flights. Due to this design, the plane could take more fuel, and had a better capability to glide.
🧊 The flight took a total of 63 hours and 16 minutes. The Arctic weather with its low temperatures gave the crew the greatest trouble. The ice from the cockpit windows had to be cut off by hand with a sheath knife. Because of the clouds, the crew had to either pilot the plane blindly or change course, and overspent about 300 litres of fuel.
🧊 Initially, the crew planned to land in San Francisco, but due to excessive fuel consumption, it was decided to land in Vancouver. They failed to break the world flight range record, but in less than a month this was achieved by another Soviet crew under the command of Mikhail Gromov.
🧊 Despite this, Valery Chkalov and his crew's flight became a major event in the history of world aviation. It showcased Soviet achievement in advanced aircraft construction, and proved to the whole world the exceptional professionalism and courage of Soviet aviators.
🤝 The feat of the three pilots was widely covered by the press, both in the Soviet Union and in America. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt personally received the crew in the Oval Office of the White House. The transpolar flight contributed to the establishment of friendly relations between the two countries, and paved the way for fruitful cooperation between the USSR and the United States during World War II.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
📅 #OTD in 1944, Soviet forces launched Operation Bagration, one of the largest and most successful military operations in history. In two months, they liberated the Belarusian SSR, part of the Lithuanian and Latvian SSRs and eastern Poland.
🔻 By the summer of 1944, the Red Army had succeeded in pushing German forces back from Leningrad, liberating Crimea and Ukraine and reaching the border with Romania. However, enemy forces continued to occupy the territory of Belarus. A salient controlled by the Wehrmacht’s Army Group Centre was established there. During the three-year occupation, Nazi troops had burned hundreds of local communities and killed over 2 million prisoners of war and civilians.
🔻 The Soviet forces simultaneously breached the defensive positions of the Wehrmacht’s Army Group Centre in six sectors, encircled and defeated the Vitebsk and Bobruisk formations, as well as the Orsha and Mogilyov formations. They launched several powerful strikes towards Minsk, entered Poland and approached the borders of East Prussia.
🔻 As a result of this operation, Soviet forces routed the Army Group Centre, one of the most powerful enemy formations. They crossed three large rivers, the Berezina, the Niemen and the Vistula, and seized vital bridgeheads on their western banks. They liberated Belarus, part of the Baltic republics, eastern Poland and opened the road to Berlin. The front was pushed back 550 to 600 km to the west.
🎖 Soviet soldiers displayed mass heroism and impressive fighting prowess, while liberating Belarus. Over 1,500 members of various Soviet ethnicities were made Heroes of the Soviet Union.
#Victory78 #WeRemember
🔻 By the summer of 1944, the Red Army had succeeded in pushing German forces back from Leningrad, liberating Crimea and Ukraine and reaching the border with Romania. However, enemy forces continued to occupy the territory of Belarus. A salient controlled by the Wehrmacht’s Army Group Centre was established there. During the three-year occupation, Nazi troops had burned hundreds of local communities and killed over 2 million prisoners of war and civilians.
🔻 The Soviet forces simultaneously breached the defensive positions of the Wehrmacht’s Army Group Centre in six sectors, encircled and defeated the Vitebsk and Bobruisk formations, as well as the Orsha and Mogilyov formations. They launched several powerful strikes towards Minsk, entered Poland and approached the borders of East Prussia.
🔻 As a result of this operation, Soviet forces routed the Army Group Centre, one of the most powerful enemy formations. They crossed three large rivers, the Berezina, the Niemen and the Vistula, and seized vital bridgeheads on their western banks. They liberated Belarus, part of the Baltic republics, eastern Poland and opened the road to Berlin. The front was pushed back 550 to 600 km to the west.
🎖 Soviet soldiers displayed mass heroism and impressive fighting prowess, while liberating Belarus. Over 1,500 members of various Soviet ethnicities were made Heroes of the Soviet Union.
#Victory78 #WeRemember
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
📅 #OTD in 1944, units of the Red Army’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belarusian fronts, supported by the 1st Baltic Front, liberated Minsk as part of Operation Bagration.
On June 28, 1941, Nazi forces seized the city. The Nazis destroyed nearly 80% of residential buildings, hastened to establish a ghetto. 400,000+ people perished by their hand in Minsk and its outskirts. The crimes committed there have but one word to describe them - genocide.
The retreating invaders took out their anger on the city and its resilient denizens: they blew up 23 major enterprises, wrecked a water conduit, blew up local sewers and the telephone network, destroyed 47 schools, as well as theatres, libraries, outpatient clinics and hospitals.
🔥 At 2:30 am on July 3 the occupiers felt the righteous anger of the Red Army. Eyewitnesses wrote that the Germans began to panic when the Soviet soldiers descended on the city. Partisans helped to liberate the city; they took part in the preparation of the operation plan and participated in street fighting.
The Soviet air force, which dominated the skies, hit the enemy hard,wreaking havoc on the retreating Nazis and hampering the arrival of their reserves
Highly effective and well-coordinated operations made it possible to expel the enemy from Minsk by the evening of July 3. To commemorate this event, Moscow ordered a 324-gun artillery salute.
❗️ It should be noted that Soviet forces continued to mop up the German formation, encircled to the east and southeast of Minsk, in the so-called Minsk pocket, until July 11. The Nazis failed to break out of the pocket. In all, 70,000 enemy soldiers were killed, and around 35,000 more, including 12 generals, were taken prisoner.
The main forces of the three Belarusian fronts pushed westward, while the others continued to mop up the encircled enemy formation near Minsk.
#Victory78
On June 28, 1941, Nazi forces seized the city. The Nazis destroyed nearly 80% of residential buildings, hastened to establish a ghetto. 400,000+ people perished by their hand in Minsk and its outskirts. The crimes committed there have but one word to describe them - genocide.
The retreating invaders took out their anger on the city and its resilient denizens: they blew up 23 major enterprises, wrecked a water conduit, blew up local sewers and the telephone network, destroyed 47 schools, as well as theatres, libraries, outpatient clinics and hospitals.
🔥 At 2:30 am on July 3 the occupiers felt the righteous anger of the Red Army. Eyewitnesses wrote that the Germans began to panic when the Soviet soldiers descended on the city. Partisans helped to liberate the city; they took part in the preparation of the operation plan and participated in street fighting.
The Soviet air force, which dominated the skies, hit the enemy hard,wreaking havoc on the retreating Nazis and hampering the arrival of their reserves
Highly effective and well-coordinated operations made it possible to expel the enemy from Minsk by the evening of July 3. To commemorate this event, Moscow ordered a 324-gun artillery salute.
❗️ It should be noted that Soviet forces continued to mop up the German formation, encircled to the east and southeast of Minsk, in the so-called Minsk pocket, until July 11. The Nazis failed to break out of the pocket. In all, 70,000 enemy soldiers were killed, and around 35,000 more, including 12 generals, were taken prisoner.
The main forces of the three Belarusian fronts pushed westward, while the others continued to mop up the encircled enemy formation near Minsk.
#Victory78
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
⭐️ #OTD in 1921, legendary Soviet fighter pilot Lidiya Litvyak was born. She went down in history under the call sign «White Lily». According to legend, this flower was painted on her aircraft.
Since childhood, Lidiya had dreamed of conquering the sky. Already at the age of 14, she enrolled in an aeroclub, and at 15, she made her first solo flight. After graduating from the aviation school, the 19-year-old herself prepared cadets for flights.
⚔️ After the start of the Great Patriotic War, Litvyak enrolled in the women’s 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, where she piloted the Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter.
In September, Lidiya participated in the fierce battles over Stalingrad. Due to her successes in the sky, Litvyak was transferred to the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, the «regiment of aces». After the successful counter-offensive at Stalingrad in 1943, Lydiya Litvyak was sent to fight in the skies over Donbass.
🕯 On August 1, 1943, during the defence of Donbass, Litvyak engaged in an air battle with several Messerschmitts, which were superior to the Yak-1 in speed and manoeuvrability. The radio operators intercepted alarming reports from the pilots in the sky: «Lily has been shot down!». The crash site of the Litvyak fighter could not be found for decades. At the time of her last combat mission, she was only 21 years old.
The «White Lily» carried out 168 combat sorties and destroyed 16 enemy aircraft (12 solo and four shared victories). She became the most effective female pilot of World War II.
Read in full
#FacesOfVictory
Since childhood, Lidiya had dreamed of conquering the sky. Already at the age of 14, she enrolled in an aeroclub, and at 15, she made her first solo flight. After graduating from the aviation school, the 19-year-old herself prepared cadets for flights.
⚔️ After the start of the Great Patriotic War, Litvyak enrolled in the women’s 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, where she piloted the Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter.
In September, Lidiya participated in the fierce battles over Stalingrad. Due to her successes in the sky, Litvyak was transferred to the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, the «regiment of aces». After the successful counter-offensive at Stalingrad in 1943, Lydiya Litvyak was sent to fight in the skies over Donbass.
🕯 On August 1, 1943, during the defence of Donbass, Litvyak engaged in an air battle with several Messerschmitts, which were superior to the Yak-1 in speed and manoeuvrability. The radio operators intercepted alarming reports from the pilots in the sky: «Lily has been shot down!». The crash site of the Litvyak fighter could not be found for decades. At the time of her last combat mission, she was only 21 years old.
The «White Lily» carried out 168 combat sorties and destroyed 16 enemy aircraft (12 solo and four shared victories). She became the most effective female pilot of World War II.
Read in full
#FacesOfVictory
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
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✍️ #OTD 84 years ago, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Nonaggression Pact in Moscow.
Signing the pact was a forced step for the USSR. The Soviet leadership made this difficult decision after taking account of the extremely unfavourable geopolitical situation that had emerged in Europe by August 1939.
👉 First, it was evident to everyone at that time that a large-scale conflict was inevitable. Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933 and embarked on a policy designed to militarise the country and expand the German Lebensraum (living space) by occupying Eastern Europe.
👉Second, the Western countries were openly condoning Hitler’s predatory plans because it was a pet idea of theirs to channel the Third Reich’s aggression to the East. Their appeasement policy enabled Germany to carry out the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938 and to partition Czechoslovakia in a most cruel and cynical manner later in September.
The Soviet leadership did its utmost to create an anti-Hitler coalition.
However, its attempt to form a tripartite military alliance against Hitler with Britain and France failed to gain traction. Moreover, Poland refused to allow the Red Army to cross its territory in the event of German aggression.
👉 Moscow had to take the Japanese factor into consideration as well, with Japan launching hostilities in the Khalkhin Gol area in May 1938 and the persisting tensions in the relations between the USSR and Japan. A war on two fronts – in the East and the West – was out of the question for the USSR.
The Soviet Union was the last major European power to sign a nonaggression pact with Germany. This document made it possible for the Soviet Union to delay the outbreak of the war for two more years, enabling it to make better preparations for a clash with the world’s most powerful army.
❗️The dramatic events of 1938 and 1939 are graphic evidence of the fact that no one can ensure their security at the expense of the security of others.
Signing the pact was a forced step for the USSR. The Soviet leadership made this difficult decision after taking account of the extremely unfavourable geopolitical situation that had emerged in Europe by August 1939.
👉 First, it was evident to everyone at that time that a large-scale conflict was inevitable. Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933 and embarked on a policy designed to militarise the country and expand the German Lebensraum (living space) by occupying Eastern Europe.
👉Second, the Western countries were openly condoning Hitler’s predatory plans because it was a pet idea of theirs to channel the Third Reich’s aggression to the East. Their appeasement policy enabled Germany to carry out the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938 and to partition Czechoslovakia in a most cruel and cynical manner later in September.
The Soviet leadership did its utmost to create an anti-Hitler coalition.
However, its attempt to form a tripartite military alliance against Hitler with Britain and France failed to gain traction. Moreover, Poland refused to allow the Red Army to cross its territory in the event of German aggression.
👉 Moscow had to take the Japanese factor into consideration as well, with Japan launching hostilities in the Khalkhin Gol area in May 1938 and the persisting tensions in the relations between the USSR and Japan. A war on two fronts – in the East and the West – was out of the question for the USSR.
The Soviet Union was the last major European power to sign a nonaggression pact with Germany. This document made it possible for the Soviet Union to delay the outbreak of the war for two more years, enabling it to make better preparations for a clash with the world’s most powerful army.
❗️The dramatic events of 1938 and 1939 are graphic evidence of the fact that no one can ensure their security at the expense of the security of others.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
#HistoryOfDiplomacy
📆 #OTD in 1845, Fyodor Martens, a Russian diplomat and famous expert on the history and theory of international law, was born. In Russia he is known above all as the author of Contemporary International Law of Civilised Peoples, a fundamental work that became the first Russian manual on international law.
The future international lawyer was born in Pärnu, Livonia Governorate of the Russian Empire. Having lost his parents when he was a child, he ended up in a St Petersburg orphanage. When he grew up, he was accepted to the law faculty of St Petersburg University thanks to his brilliant academic success.
Later he taught at his alma mater, as well as a number of other leading educational institutions of the Russian Empire. In 1869, he joined the Russian Foreign Ministry, and in 1881 became a permanent member of the Ministry Board. He participated in the Brussels Conference on the Codification of Laws and Customs of War on Land and represented Russia at international conferences of the Red Cross, the Brussels Conference on African Affairs, and many other important international venues.
Holding the Hague Peace Conferences in 1899 and 1907 at Russia’s initiative was among Martens’ most important achievements. At the first conference, the Russian expert developed the principles for peaceful resolution of international disputes, and at the second, he led a commission on maritime law, which made a significant contribution to the development of this area of international law.
A provision formulated by Martens was first recorded in the preamble to the Hague Convention of 1899, under which the parties to an armed conflict must first of all be guided by the principles of humanity and the requirements of public conscience (the so-called Martens clause). The theoretical innovations of the Russian diplomat also laid the foundation of the Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land.
📆 #OTD in 1845, Fyodor Martens, a Russian diplomat and famous expert on the history and theory of international law, was born. In Russia he is known above all as the author of Contemporary International Law of Civilised Peoples, a fundamental work that became the first Russian manual on international law.
The future international lawyer was born in Pärnu, Livonia Governorate of the Russian Empire. Having lost his parents when he was a child, he ended up in a St Petersburg orphanage. When he grew up, he was accepted to the law faculty of St Petersburg University thanks to his brilliant academic success.
Later he taught at his alma mater, as well as a number of other leading educational institutions of the Russian Empire. In 1869, he joined the Russian Foreign Ministry, and in 1881 became a permanent member of the Ministry Board. He participated in the Brussels Conference on the Codification of Laws and Customs of War on Land and represented Russia at international conferences of the Red Cross, the Brussels Conference on African Affairs, and many other important international venues.
Holding the Hague Peace Conferences in 1899 and 1907 at Russia’s initiative was among Martens’ most important achievements. At the first conference, the Russian expert developed the principles for peaceful resolution of international disputes, and at the second, he led a commission on maritime law, which made a significant contribution to the development of this area of international law.
A provision formulated by Martens was first recorded in the preamble to the Hague Convention of 1899, under which the parties to an armed conflict must first of all be guided by the principles of humanity and the requirements of public conscience (the so-called Martens clause). The theoretical innovations of the Russian diplomat also laid the foundation of the Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
⭐️ #OTD in 1895, outstanding Marshal, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Vasilevsky was born. During the most difficult years of the Great Patriotic War, he headed the General Staff of the Red Army, formulating and coordinating the most important Soviet strategic operations.
A theological seminary graduate, Alexander Vasilevsky had dreamed of becoming an agronomist in his younger years, but World War I disrupted his plans.
The young officer deployed to the front where he quickly became a Staff Captain, a rank similar to Captain in the Soviet and Russian Armed Forces. Vasilevsky then realised that he would pursue a military career for the rest of his life.
Major General Vasilevsky was serving with the General Staff when the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 started. He came to head the General Staff some time later. As a member of the General Headquarters and its representative, he deployed to fronts where the challenges were greatest.
Vasilevsky’s military talents were manifested vividly during the Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943). He co-authored the plan for a counteroffensive and directly supervised operations to repel a counterstrike by the Wehrmacht’s Hoth Army Group that tried to relieve the 6th German Army, commanded by Friedrich von Paulus, in and around Stalingrad.
Later, Vasilevsky coordinated operations of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts during the Battle of Kursk, planned and conducted operations to liberate Donbass, the Ukrainian west bank of the Dnieper River, and Crimea.
In February-April 1945, Vasilevsky commanded the 3rd Belarusian Front whose units stormed and seized Konigsberg. In June-August 1945, he commanded Soviet forces in the Far East and contributed to the defeat of Japan’s powerful Kwantung Army in just 24 days.
After the war, Vasilevsky headed the Ministry of the Soviet Armed Forces and actively promoted the national veterans’ movement. An urn with his ashes is currently interred in the necropolis that is part of the Kremlin Wall.
#FacesOfVictory
A theological seminary graduate, Alexander Vasilevsky had dreamed of becoming an agronomist in his younger years, but World War I disrupted his plans.
The young officer deployed to the front where he quickly became a Staff Captain, a rank similar to Captain in the Soviet and Russian Armed Forces. Vasilevsky then realised that he would pursue a military career for the rest of his life.
Major General Vasilevsky was serving with the General Staff when the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 started. He came to head the General Staff some time later. As a member of the General Headquarters and its representative, he deployed to fronts where the challenges were greatest.
Vasilevsky’s military talents were manifested vividly during the Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943). He co-authored the plan for a counteroffensive and directly supervised operations to repel a counterstrike by the Wehrmacht’s Hoth Army Group that tried to relieve the 6th German Army, commanded by Friedrich von Paulus, in and around Stalingrad.
Later, Vasilevsky coordinated operations of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts during the Battle of Kursk, planned and conducted operations to liberate Donbass, the Ukrainian west bank of the Dnieper River, and Crimea.
In February-April 1945, Vasilevsky commanded the 3rd Belarusian Front whose units stormed and seized Konigsberg. In June-August 1945, he commanded Soviet forces in the Far East and contributed to the defeat of Japan’s powerful Kwantung Army in just 24 days.
After the war, Vasilevsky headed the Ministry of the Soviet Armed Forces and actively promoted the national veterans’ movement. An urn with his ashes is currently interred in the necropolis that is part of the Kremlin Wall.
#FacesOfVictory
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🛡 Today, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation marks its 21st anniversary.
#OTD in 2002, the Collective Security Treaty was assigned the status of an international regional organisation, and the CSTO Charter was adopted.
In 2004, the #CSTO was granted the status of observer at the UN GA. The Joint Declaration on Cooperation between the Secretariats of the United Nations and the CSTO was signed in Moscow in 2010.
The Organisation comprises six member states: Russia 🇷🇺, Armenia 🇦🇲, Belarus 🇧🇾, Kazakhstan 🇰🇿, Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬 and Tajikistan 🇹🇯.
The CSTO upholds three major aspects of cooperation:
• political cooperation;
• military cooperation;
• countering new challenges and threats.
📄 The Organisation's activity is regulated by the Collective Security Strategy until 2025, a policy document that charts the main goals of the development of CSTO.
The member states coordinate their efforts in the joint fight against international terrorism and extremism, illicit trafficking of drugs and weapons, organised transnational crime, illegal migration and other threats to stability in the CSTO area.
The collective security system includes a military component, the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Force.
By working together, the CSTO member states have created an integral and effective mechanism for jointly addressing security issues and for promoting their collective interests on the international arena.
💬 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: The international authority of the CSTO is evidence of the Organisation's achievements and recognition of its capabilities. <...> As we continue to advance our security initiatives in the region, our voice will become increasingly influential (from FM Sergey Lavrov's interview for the film "CSTO Allies - 30 Years Guarding Collective Security", Moscow, June 7, 2022).
☝️ Russia regards the continued strengthening and development of all-round cooperation with CSTO member states, and enhancing its international role as a foreign policy priority.
#OTD in 2002, the Collective Security Treaty was assigned the status of an international regional organisation, and the CSTO Charter was adopted.
In 2004, the #CSTO was granted the status of observer at the UN GA. The Joint Declaration on Cooperation between the Secretariats of the United Nations and the CSTO was signed in Moscow in 2010.
The Organisation comprises six member states: Russia 🇷🇺, Armenia 🇦🇲, Belarus 🇧🇾, Kazakhstan 🇰🇿, Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬 and Tajikistan 🇹🇯.
The CSTO upholds three major aspects of cooperation:
• political cooperation;
• military cooperation;
• countering new challenges and threats.
📄 The Organisation's activity is regulated by the Collective Security Strategy until 2025, a policy document that charts the main goals of the development of CSTO.
The member states coordinate their efforts in the joint fight against international terrorism and extremism, illicit trafficking of drugs and weapons, organised transnational crime, illegal migration and other threats to stability in the CSTO area.
The collective security system includes a military component, the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Force.
By working together, the CSTO member states have created an integral and effective mechanism for jointly addressing security issues and for promoting their collective interests on the international arena.
💬 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: The international authority of the CSTO is evidence of the Organisation's achievements and recognition of its capabilities. <...> As we continue to advance our security initiatives in the region, our voice will become increasingly influential (from FM Sergey Lavrov's interview for the film "CSTO Allies - 30 Years Guarding Collective Security", Moscow, June 7, 2022).
☝️ Russia regards the continued strengthening and development of all-round cooperation with CSTO member states, and enhancing its international role as a foreign policy priority.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
Sobibor, which was created exclusively to exterminate Jews and prisoners of war, operated from May 15, 1942, to October 15, 1943.
Up to six echelons carrying up to 2,000 people each, including adults, the elderly and children, arrived at the camp every day. Brutal death expected all of them.
One of the most efficient human extermination systems developed by the Nazis was put in place at the camp. The gas chamber, which the prisoners called "the baths", could take up to 800 people.
🕯 Over the period of the camp’s existence, the Nazis brutally murdered up to 250,000 people, according to different data.
Of the 550 prisoners who were at the camp during the uprising, more than a hundred refused to take part in it, hoping that the Nazis would show them mercy. All of these prisoners were exterminated by the Nazi on the following day.
In the next few weeks after the escape, the Nazis staged a real hunt for the fugitives.
On hearing the news of the uprising in Sobibor, SS-Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler became enraged and gave the order to liquidate the camp. The Nazis ploughed the ground on the camp site and planted cabbage with potatoes there, thus not only trying to hide their crimes but also destroy the memory of the prisoners’ heroic feat. But their efforts were in vain.
The history of Sobibor became part of the charges at the Nuremberg trials and the stories told by witnesses and participants in the uprising formed the basis of a number of books and several feature films.
#Victory78 #Sobibor
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Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🎖 #OTD in 1908, Dmitry Ustinov was born – the legendary People’s Commissar of Armaments during the Great Patriotic War & World War II – it was he who ensured that the Soviet military industrial complex was evacuated during the first months of the war, and surpassed the Axis potential, contributing greatly to the Victory over Nazism.
He gained this high post at the age of only 32, having risen from a fitter to People’s Commissar of Armaments. He was appointed to that post on June 9, 1941, less than two weeks before Nazi Germany’s treacherous attack on the Soviet Union. The first few months of the war were especially difficult. Ustinov worked 20 hours a day to evacuate defence plants from the endangered areas and to launch military production in besieged Moscow and Leningrad.
📈 The young commissar was assigned a vital and seemingly insurmountable task – to prevail over the German military machine, which the whole of Europe was supplying with weapons. Ustinov worked selflessly to attain that goal. During the war, the Soviet Union produced nearly twice as many weapons as Germany and the countries it occupied.
Ustinov greatly contributed to the production of artillery guns and rifles and to the challenging scientific and technological task of creating new armaments. During his term in office, the manufacturing of artillery guns increased fivefold and of rifles, by 22 times.
After the war, Ustinov was appointed Minister of the Defence Industry of the USSR contributing immensely to strengthening the defence capabilities of our country. In 1976, he received the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.
🕯 Dmitry Ustinov died in 1984 and was the last person whose ashes were interred in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.
#FacesOfVictory
He gained this high post at the age of only 32, having risen from a fitter to People’s Commissar of Armaments. He was appointed to that post on June 9, 1941, less than two weeks before Nazi Germany’s treacherous attack on the Soviet Union. The first few months of the war were especially difficult. Ustinov worked 20 hours a day to evacuate defence plants from the endangered areas and to launch military production in besieged Moscow and Leningrad.
📈 The young commissar was assigned a vital and seemingly insurmountable task – to prevail over the German military machine, which the whole of Europe was supplying with weapons. Ustinov worked selflessly to attain that goal. During the war, the Soviet Union produced nearly twice as many weapons as Germany and the countries it occupied.
Ustinov greatly contributed to the production of artillery guns and rifles and to the challenging scientific and technological task of creating new armaments. During his term in office, the manufacturing of artillery guns increased fivefold and of rifles, by 22 times.
After the war, Ustinov was appointed Minister of the Defence Industry of the USSR contributing immensely to strengthening the defence capabilities of our country. In 1976, he received the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.
🕯 Dmitry Ustinov died in 1984 and was the last person whose ashes were interred in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.
#FacesOfVictory
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
📅 #OTD in 1944, the Battle for the Arctic ended. The Red Army prevented the Nazis’ efforts to envelop Soviet territory from the north and block military supply routes.
👉 The enemy wanted to destroy bases of the Soviet Navy’s Northern Fleet and to seize the coast of the Kola Peninsula. The Nazis believed that, by seizing Murmansk and the Kirov Railway, they would thwart Lend Lease shipments to central Soviet regions.
Although the enemy’s high command had deployed 97,000 German and Finnish service personnel, who outnumbered Red Army units totalling 57,000 officers and soldiers, the Arctic blitzkrieg failed completely. Units of the Red Army’s Northern, and later Karelian, Front retained control over naval bases and prevented the enemy from reaching the strategically important railway.
▪️ Al that time, the Nazis did not abandon attempts to seize Murmansk or to raze it to the ground. Luftwaffe aircraft conducted 792 air strikes and dropped 185,000 bombs.
Although Murmansk was destroyed almost completely, it did not surrender. During the war, the city handled 1.2 million tonnes of Lend Lease shipments. Hitler deployed elite Luftwaffe, U-boat and Kriegsmarine (surface warship) units to thwart these deliveries.
🤝 Royal Navy warships helped Soviet sailors in their efforts to ensure safe deliveries. They escorted freighters from North Atlantic ports to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. In 1941-1944, about 1,400 warships sailed along the extremely dangerous Arctic convoy routes.
Finland withdrew from the war following the defeat of its forces in the Vyborg offensive operation. In the autumn of 1944, this created favourable conditions for a Soviet offensive. During the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive, Red Army units defeated the enemy in the Soviet Arctic and started liberating Norway from German occupation.
🎖 On December 5, 1944, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR instituted the Medal for the Defence of the Soviet Arctic, with about 353,000 people receiving this decoration.
👉 The enemy wanted to destroy bases of the Soviet Navy’s Northern Fleet and to seize the coast of the Kola Peninsula. The Nazis believed that, by seizing Murmansk and the Kirov Railway, they would thwart Lend Lease shipments to central Soviet regions.
Although the enemy’s high command had deployed 97,000 German and Finnish service personnel, who outnumbered Red Army units totalling 57,000 officers and soldiers, the Arctic blitzkrieg failed completely. Units of the Red Army’s Northern, and later Karelian, Front retained control over naval bases and prevented the enemy from reaching the strategically important railway.
▪️ Al that time, the Nazis did not abandon attempts to seize Murmansk or to raze it to the ground. Luftwaffe aircraft conducted 792 air strikes and dropped 185,000 bombs.
Although Murmansk was destroyed almost completely, it did not surrender. During the war, the city handled 1.2 million tonnes of Lend Lease shipments. Hitler deployed elite Luftwaffe, U-boat and Kriegsmarine (surface warship) units to thwart these deliveries.
🤝 Royal Navy warships helped Soviet sailors in their efforts to ensure safe deliveries. They escorted freighters from North Atlantic ports to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. In 1941-1944, about 1,400 warships sailed along the extremely dangerous Arctic convoy routes.
Finland withdrew from the war following the defeat of its forces in the Vyborg offensive operation. In the autumn of 1944, this created favourable conditions for a Soviet offensive. During the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive, Red Army units defeated the enemy in the Soviet Arctic and started liberating Norway from German occupation.
🎖 On December 5, 1944, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR instituted the Medal for the Defence of the Soviet Arctic, with about 353,000 people receiving this decoration.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
📅 #OTD in 1943, the Allies leaders representing the USSR, the United States, and the United Kingdom opened their first World War II-era conference.
🇷🇺 🇺🇸🇬🇧 From November 28 to December 1, 1943, the Big Three — Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars Joseph Stalin, President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt, and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill — gathered in Tehran to discuss key strategic matters for the Allies with a special focus on opening the Second Front in Europe.
The meeting took place against the backdrop of the Red Army’s strategic advances in the summer and autumn of 1943, which helped convince the Western leaders of the inevitable defeat of the Third Reich and the need to outline a post-war framework for Europe.
In Tehran, the leaders reached a preliminary agreement on the Polish border, tracing it along the so-called Curzon Line of 1920 in the east and along the River Oder in the west, which meant that territories of western Ukraine and Belarus were rightfully recognized as parts of the USSR.
🤝 To sum up the conference proceedings, the Leaders issued the Declaration of the Three Powers, stating that they had concerted their plans for the destruction of the German forces and reached complete agreement as to the scope and timing of the operations to be undertaken from the east, west and south. In the declaration, they also expressed their determination to work together in war and in the peace that [would] follow.
📄 From the document: “We came here with hope and determination. We leave here, friends in fact, in spirit and in purpose.”
On November 29, at the Soviet Embassy in Tehran, Churchill presented Stalin, with the Sword of Stalingrad, a ceremonial longsword forged by command of King of Great Britain George VI as a token of homage to the courage and heroism the Soviet people in general and the defenders of Stalingrad in particular.
The meeting took place against the backdrop of the Red Army’s strategic advances in the summer and autumn of 1943, which helped convince the Western leaders of the inevitable defeat of the Third Reich and the need to outline a post-war framework for Europe.
In Tehran, the leaders reached a preliminary agreement on the Polish border, tracing it along the so-called Curzon Line of 1920 in the east and along the River Oder in the west, which meant that territories of western Ukraine and Belarus were rightfully recognized as parts of the USSR.
🤝 To sum up the conference proceedings, the Leaders issued the Declaration of the Three Powers, stating that they had concerted their plans for the destruction of the German forces and reached complete agreement as to the scope and timing of the operations to be undertaken from the east, west and south. In the declaration, they also expressed their determination to work together in war and in the peace that [would] follow.
📄 From the document: “We came here with hope and determination. We leave here, friends in fact, in spirit and in purpose.”
On November 29, at the Soviet Embassy in Tehran, Churchill presented Stalin, with the Sword of Stalingrad, a ceremonial longsword forged by command of King of Great Britain George VI as a token of homage to the courage and heroism the Soviet people in general and the defenders of Stalingrad in particular.
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Operation Ring was part of a large-scale Soviet counteroffensive near Stalingrad, which followed 125 days of the heroic defence of the city. The Red Army launched an attack on November 19, and by the end of the year the 6th Army, commanded led by Friedrich Paulus, was trapped between the Don and Volga rivers.
The encircled enemy force retained its combat strength with 250,000 troops, 4,130 artillery guns and mortars, 300 tanks and 100 planes, but the troops’ morale, psychological and physical condition were in a desperate state. Nevertheless, Berlin ordered Paulus to stand to the end.
On January 8, the command of the Don Front issued an ultimatum to the occupying army, proposing that it put an end to the futile resistance and accept the capitulation terms. But Paulus rejected the offer of the Soviet command.
On January 31, Field Marshal Paulus and the generals and officers of his headquarters capitulated. The last remnants of German resistance were liquidated on February 2.
The Operation Koltso resulted in the defeat of 22 German divisions and 149 separate units, lead to the capture of over 91,000 troops, including 24 generals.
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