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📅 #OnThisDay in 1943 - exactly 8️⃣0️⃣ years ago - one of the largest and fiercest battles in history, which radically changed the course of World War II, the Battle of Stalingrad was concluded.
This bitter battle lasted 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ days on the banks of the Don and Volga rivers, at the walls of Stalingrad, and finally in the city itself. Over 2.1 million people were part of the battle on both sides.
The Battle for Stalingrad surpassed all previous battles in world history in its scale and intensity.
It was the Third Reich's firm belief & strategic calculus that in order to defeat the USSR the Axis would need to accomplish the following:
1️⃣ Conquering the Caucasus with its vital oil reserves (some 90% of all Soviet oil was produced there);
2️⃣ Seizing fertile agricultural areas in the Don and Kuban regions, the North Caucasus and the low reaches of the Volga;
3️⃣ Establishing control over the Volga River - an important transport route.
☝️ However, their plans were not destined to come true.
The Battle of Stalingrad includes two periods:
Defensive: from July 17 to November 18, 1942
Offensive: from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943.
🎖 The Battle of Stalingrad ended with a historic victory by the Soviet armed forces, marking a radical turn not only in the course of the Great Patriotic War, but also in the entire World War II.
The fascist block lost a quarter of its forces on the Soviet-German front during this battle with the total losses, including the dead and wounded, prisoners of war and those who went missing, totalling around 1.5 million people. This led Germany to announce its first national day of mourning during the war.
❗️ The victory in Stalingrad created conditions enabling Soviet forces to mount a large-scale counteroffensive aimed at expelling the invaders from the Motherland.
Not only did this massive feat increase the international prestige of the USSR & the Red Army, but also helped strengthen the anti-Hitler coalition.
📖 Learn more
#Stalingrad80
This bitter battle lasted 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ days on the banks of the Don and Volga rivers, at the walls of Stalingrad, and finally in the city itself. Over 2.1 million people were part of the battle on both sides.
The Battle for Stalingrad surpassed all previous battles in world history in its scale and intensity.
It was the Third Reich's firm belief & strategic calculus that in order to defeat the USSR the Axis would need to accomplish the following:
1️⃣ Conquering the Caucasus with its vital oil reserves (some 90% of all Soviet oil was produced there);
2️⃣ Seizing fertile agricultural areas in the Don and Kuban regions, the North Caucasus and the low reaches of the Volga;
3️⃣ Establishing control over the Volga River - an important transport route.
☝️ However, their plans were not destined to come true.
The Battle of Stalingrad includes two periods:
Defensive: from July 17 to November 18, 1942
Offensive: from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943.
🎖 The Battle of Stalingrad ended with a historic victory by the Soviet armed forces, marking a radical turn not only in the course of the Great Patriotic War, but also in the entire World War II.
The fascist block lost a quarter of its forces on the Soviet-German front during this battle with the total losses, including the dead and wounded, prisoners of war and those who went missing, totalling around 1.5 million people. This led Germany to announce its first national day of mourning during the war.
❗️ The victory in Stalingrad created conditions enabling Soviet forces to mount a large-scale counteroffensive aimed at expelling the invaders from the Motherland.
Not only did this massive feat increase the international prestige of the USSR & the Red Army, but also helped strengthen the anti-Hitler coalition.
📖 Learn more
#Stalingrad80
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🇷🇺🇧🇾 Today, Belarus, a state linked to Russia by centuries of fraternal friendship and bonds of mutual assistance, is marking Independence Day.
#OnThisDay in 1944, Minsk was liberated from Nazi German invaders and occupants as a result of well-coordinated Red Army operations. Fighting shoulder to shoulder, our nations made a decisive contribution to the Victory over Nazism.
Today, Russian-Belarusian relations are those of strategic partnership and alliance. Together, our countries continue to overcome serious difficulties and defend their interests on the international scene. They collaborate closely in the field of military and military-technical cooperation and in ensuring collective security.
Moscow and Minsk jointly streamline various institutions of the Union State and promote integration projects in the Eurasian region. Our countries voice common or similar positions on many international issues and cooperate closely in the #CSTO, the #EAEU, the #CIS, the #UN, the #OSCE and other international and regional organisations.
🤝 We congratulate the fraternal people of Belarus on the national holiday. We wish them well-being and prosperity.
#RussiaBelarus #UnionState
#OnThisDay in 1944, Minsk was liberated from Nazi German invaders and occupants as a result of well-coordinated Red Army operations. Fighting shoulder to shoulder, our nations made a decisive contribution to the Victory over Nazism.
Today, Russian-Belarusian relations are those of strategic partnership and alliance. Together, our countries continue to overcome serious difficulties and defend their interests on the international scene. They collaborate closely in the field of military and military-technical cooperation and in ensuring collective security.
Moscow and Minsk jointly streamline various institutions of the Union State and promote integration projects in the Eurasian region. Our countries voice common or similar positions on many international issues and cooperate closely in the #CSTO, the #EAEU, the #CIS, the #UN, the #OSCE and other international and regional organisations.
🤝 We congratulate the fraternal people of Belarus on the national holiday. We wish them well-being and prosperity.
#RussiaBelarus #UnionState
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This battle raged for long 50 days and nights and became one of the biggest combat operations in history, involving over 4 million people, over 69,000 artillery guns and mortars, more than 13,000 tanks and self-propelled artillery units, and up to 12,000 planes on both sides.
Ahead of the battle, Soviet commanders Konstantin Rokosovsky and Nikolai Vatutin received intelligence reports and knew when the German offensive would begin. They ordered all the weapons at their disposal to target the enemy positions just 30 or 40 minutes before the operation began, just as the Wehrmacht soldiers were taking their positions.
⚔️ On July 12, a major tank battle took place near Prokhorovka with the legendary Soviet #T34 tanks engaging the German machines in close combat. The Soviet artillery also played its part by launching 200 train car loads of shells against the enemy every day.
With the victory in the Battle of Kursk, the USSR seized the strategic initiative and did not lose it until the end of the war. The victorious operation on the Kursk Bulge enabled the Soviet forces to liberate Kharkov on August 23, followed by combat operations to liberate Ukraine.
📹 The Russian Military Historical Society
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🇷🇺 On November 4, our country celebrates National Unity Day. #OnThisDay 412 years ago, a popular uprising liberated Moscow from Polish-Lithuanian invaders. Thousands of our country’s residents of different ethnicities, social strata & religions managed to close ranks to counter the existential threat and gave an example of genuine courage and loyalty to their Fatherland.
In the early 17th century, the Russian state was going through one of the hardest periods in its history called the Time of Troubles. The Moscow branch of the Ryurik dynasty that used to rule the country for seven centuries, died out. Numerous impostors began to claim the throne, pretending to be Tsar Ivan IV's son, the deceased Tsarevich Dmitry.
▪️ Our country was one step away from losing its sovereignty and could have vanished from the map of the world for good.
The first of the impostors, False Dmitry I, managed to seize the throne in 1605 thanks to the support of Sigismund III King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The adventurer hoped to annex the Seversk and Smolensk regions to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and spread Catholicism in Russia, but he miscalculated – a year later the unpopular False Dmitry I was deposed by the boyars, and the throne was taken by Vassily Shuisky, a representative of the Suzdal branch of the Rurikovich dynasty.
The next impostor, False Dmitry II, was proposed in 1606 by Sigismund III’s opponents from among the Polish nobility. The north-west and north of Russian lands fell under the control of foreign invaders, and False Dmitry II himself settled in the town of Tushino, 17 kilometers from the Kremlin. In such circumstances Vassily Shuisky appealed to Sweden for help. Sigismund III, who was at war with the Swedes at the time, used this as a pretext for open intervention.
In the autumn of 1609, Polish-Lithuanian troops besieged Smolensk and occupied a number of Russian cities. After False Dmitry II fled under the onslaught of the army of the Russian commander Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky in early 1610, some of the boyars who had been in Tushino made a compact with Sigismund III on naming his son Wladislaw tsar-elect. Power in the country passed to the boyar council who were forced to swear allegiance to Wladislaw. The interventionist troops occupied the Kremlin.
⚔️ Patriarch Hermogenes of Moscow and All Russia issued a call to resist foreign invaders, but the first national resistance alliance to gather in Ryazan was defeated. The initiator of the second resistance, the zemstvo headman Kuzma Minin, managed to gather an impressive army in Nizhny Novgorod of over 10,000 landowners, peasants, Cossacks, riflemen and nobles. Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who was in that region for medical treatment, was elected to lead the army. In August 1612, they approached Moscow and in autumn defeated the superior forces of the interventionists in fierce battles.
👑 The liberation of the capital and the consolidation of the masses were a powerful boost for the revival of the Russian state. In 1613, the Zemsky Sobor (a nation-wide assembly) elected a new Russian tsar, Mikhail Romanov, the first of the new dynasty. By 1618, the last troops of Polish-Lithuanian and Swedish invaders were pushed out of Russia.
💬 President of Russia Vladimir Putin (Sevastopol, November 4, 2021):
📜 Learn more in our in-depth historical delve.
In the early 17th century, the Russian state was going through one of the hardest periods in its history called the Time of Troubles. The Moscow branch of the Ryurik dynasty that used to rule the country for seven centuries, died out. Numerous impostors began to claim the throne, pretending to be Tsar Ivan IV's son, the deceased Tsarevich Dmitry.
▪️ Our country was one step away from losing its sovereignty and could have vanished from the map of the world for good.
The first of the impostors, False Dmitry I, managed to seize the throne in 1605 thanks to the support of Sigismund III King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The adventurer hoped to annex the Seversk and Smolensk regions to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and spread Catholicism in Russia, but he miscalculated – a year later the unpopular False Dmitry I was deposed by the boyars, and the throne was taken by Vassily Shuisky, a representative of the Suzdal branch of the Rurikovich dynasty.
The next impostor, False Dmitry II, was proposed in 1606 by Sigismund III’s opponents from among the Polish nobility. The north-west and north of Russian lands fell under the control of foreign invaders, and False Dmitry II himself settled in the town of Tushino, 17 kilometers from the Kremlin. In such circumstances Vassily Shuisky appealed to Sweden for help. Sigismund III, who was at war with the Swedes at the time, used this as a pretext for open intervention.
In the autumn of 1609, Polish-Lithuanian troops besieged Smolensk and occupied a number of Russian cities. After False Dmitry II fled under the onslaught of the army of the Russian commander Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky in early 1610, some of the boyars who had been in Tushino made a compact with Sigismund III on naming his son Wladislaw tsar-elect. Power in the country passed to the boyar council who were forced to swear allegiance to Wladislaw. The interventionist troops occupied the Kremlin.
⚔️ Patriarch Hermogenes of Moscow and All Russia issued a call to resist foreign invaders, but the first national resistance alliance to gather in Ryazan was defeated. The initiator of the second resistance, the zemstvo headman Kuzma Minin, managed to gather an impressive army in Nizhny Novgorod of over 10,000 landowners, peasants, Cossacks, riflemen and nobles. Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who was in that region for medical treatment, was elected to lead the army. In August 1612, they approached Moscow and in autumn defeated the superior forces of the interventionists in fierce battles.
👑 The liberation of the capital and the consolidation of the masses were a powerful boost for the revival of the Russian state. In 1613, the Zemsky Sobor (a nation-wide assembly) elected a new Russian tsar, Mikhail Romanov, the first of the new dynasty. By 1618, the last troops of Polish-Lithuanian and Swedish invaders were pushed out of Russia.
💬 President of Russia Vladimir Putin (Sevastopol, November 4, 2021):
The people of Russia <...> came together <...> to defend their homeland, chase out the invaders and traitors, restore a strong state, and stop sectarian strife. They took on the task of saving the country and paved the way for Russia’s revival and strengthening. More than four centuries have passed since then, but the feat accomplished by the people still strikes us with its powerful outflow of patriotic feelings, and the fact that people came to understand that there was nothing more important than their Motherland’s destiny and future.
📜 Learn more in our in-depth historical delve.
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🇮🇳 January 26 is Republic Day in India
#OnThisDay in 1950 the country’s Constitution came into effect. This was how a new holiday, Republic Day, was created.
Over the years of independence, the people of India built an incredible track record of success in many areas, including the economy, science, technology as well as the social sphere, while preserving a unique identity based on centuries-old history and rich cultural heritage.
🤝 Moscow and New Delhi established diplomatic relations on April 13, 1947. The USSR made a considerable contribution to India’s industrialisation and developing its economic and scientific potential.
Friendly Russian-Indian ties are historically based on equality, mutual respect and trust. In 2010, the two countries designated their relations as a special privileged strategic partnership.
Our two nations maintain intensive political contacts. Our leaders hold regular meetings and talks to discuss matters dealing with the key areas of cooperation and topical international and regional developments.
Russia and India work closely together on foreign policy matters, including in several international organisations and groups such as the UN, BRICS and SCO among them. They have established close military-to-military contacts and military-technical cooperation.
They regularly hold inter-parliamentary meetings, talks between representatives of security councils, sectoral agencies and ministries of the two countries.
✉️ An excerpt from the congratulatory message by President Vladimir Putin to the President of India Droupadi Murmu and the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on the occasion of Republic Day:
🎉 Congratulations to colleagues and friends on the national holiday!
#RussiaIndia #DruzhbaDosti
#OnThisDay in 1950 the country’s Constitution came into effect. This was how a new holiday, Republic Day, was created.
Over the years of independence, the people of India built an incredible track record of success in many areas, including the economy, science, technology as well as the social sphere, while preserving a unique identity based on centuries-old history and rich cultural heritage.
🤝 Moscow and New Delhi established diplomatic relations on April 13, 1947. The USSR made a considerable contribution to India’s industrialisation and developing its economic and scientific potential.
Friendly Russian-Indian ties are historically based on equality, mutual respect and trust. In 2010, the two countries designated their relations as a special privileged strategic partnership.
Our two nations maintain intensive political contacts. Our leaders hold regular meetings and talks to discuss matters dealing with the key areas of cooperation and topical international and regional developments.
Russia and India work closely together on foreign policy matters, including in several international organisations and groups such as the UN, BRICS and SCO among them. They have established close military-to-military contacts and military-technical cooperation.
They regularly hold inter-parliamentary meetings, talks between representatives of security councils, sectoral agencies and ministries of the two countries.
✉️ An excerpt from the congratulatory message by President Vladimir Putin to the President of India Droupadi Murmu and the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on the occasion of Republic Day:
I am confident that we will use joint efforts to continue to consistently build up productive bilateral cooperation across all areas, as well as constructive interaction in international affairs. Without a doubt, this meets the fundamental interests of our friendly peoples and is in line with the efforts to form a fair multipolar international order.
🎉 Congratulations to colleagues and friends on the national holiday!
#RussiaIndia #DruzhbaDosti
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#Auschwitz was created by the Nazis in 1940 in a building that used to serve as military barracks near a small town called Oswiecim, whose history dates back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Having occupied Poland in 1939, the Nazis changed the town's name of Oswiecim to German Auschwitz. Later, in 1941-1943, two more imprisonment facilities were established in the vicinity of Oswiecim. They were:
▪️Auschwitz II — best known to the wider public as #AuschwitzBirkenau, was three kilometres away from the main facility — Oswiecim and located near Brzezinka, a Polish village (Birkenau in German). Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest "death factory". Equipped with crematoriums and gas chambers, it was created by the Nazis with only one aim — exterminate people.
▪️Auschwitz III (also known as Monowitz). Its prisoners were used by the Nazis for the Third Reich war industries.
Following the so-called Wannsee Conference in 1942, the Nazis approved what was called the “final solution to the Jewish question”. Since then, Auschwitz-Birkenau was turned into the main "death factory" for the annihilation of Jews in Europe.
❗️ Prisoners of Oswiecim were held by the Nazis in inhuman, barbaric conditions. They had to do hard, exhausting work until total exhaustion, to endure poor sanitation in the camp's facilities, malnutrition and constant tortures by the guards and SS-troops. It was in Oswiecim that the Germans first tested the "Zyklon-B" poisonous agent on human beings. Prisoners of Auschwitz were also subjected to cruel medical experiments, led by a Nazi criminal, infamous retired military doctor Josef Mengele.
In 1944, when the Red Army started the liberation of Europe, the Nazis, in an effort to cover the tracks of their crimes in Auschwitz, rushed to burn documents and destroy the camp's gas chambers, crematoriums, and deported as many prisoners as they could westward to other concentration camps deep in the Third Reich — over 58,000 prisoners were evacuated by the Nazis before Oswiecim and liberated by the Soviet forces in January, 1945.
***
In January 1945, the units of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched the Vistula-Oder offensive and, successfully expelling the Nazis from Poland, finally reached Auschwitz.
⚔️ In the late hours of January 27, following three days of fighting the retreating enemy, the Red Army took over Oswiecim and opened the gates of Auschwitz. The camp’s 7,000 prisoners were freed. Most of them were sick or suffering from extreme exhaustion and tortures.
Rescued prisoners burst into tears of joy when they greeted their liberators. Some facilities of the camp were instantly made a hospital. According to various historic estimates, in 1940-1945, from 1.5 to 4 million people perished in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Over the past years, we are witnessing a campaign in several European countries, including Poland, to rewrite and falsify the history of WWII and, in particular, to erase the memory of the feat performed by the Soviet soldiers-liberators who saved the Auschwitz prisoners.
🎙 From a briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on topical foreign policy issues (January 23, 2025):
💬 "This year, like all those years before, Russian representatives will not be invited to the commemoration ceremonies at Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27. That is, there will be no one there to mention the Soviet liberator soldiers and express gratitude to them. In this regard, there is something that needs to be said to the organisers and all the Europeans who will be there:
Your lives, your work and leisure, the very existence of your nations, your children have been paid for by Soviet soldiers, their lives, their blood. It was them who crushed the Third Reich machine. You are forever in their debt."
🕯 #WeRemember
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🕯 On January 27, the world observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day. #OnThisDay, 8️⃣0️⃣ years ago, during the Vistula-Oder Offensive, the Red Army’s 1st Ukrainian Front led by USSR Marshal Ivan Konev liberated the prisoners of Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oswiecim), the largest Nazi concentration camp.
In memory of the Holocaust tragedy, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in November 2005, co-authored by the Russian Federation, proclaiming January 27 as a day of remembrance for the millions of victims of the Nazi genocide — Jews, Roma, Slavs and members of other ethnic groups.
The Nazi regime’s systematic policy of exterminating peoples deemed undesirable by Hitler’s Germany resulted in the ruthless murder of over 6 million Jews, along with millions of others.
In January 1942, during the Wannsee Conference, the Third Reich’s senior officials approved the so-called “Final solution to the Jewish question”, which aimed to annihilate 11 million Jews. That same year, the Nazi leadership finalised the Generalplan Ost, which called for the “relocation” or extermination of over 30 million Slavs and the “Germanisation” of Eastern Europe.
📄 The full extent of the Holocaust’s horrors became known to the general public after the liberation of Nazi concentration camps in 1945. Irrefutable evidence of genocide, including documentary materials, survivor testimonies and confessions from the Nazis themselves, were presented during the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946). Key Nazi leaders, including those directly involved in the Holocaust organisation and execution, were convicted and sentenced to death or life imprisonment.
Today we honour all victims of the Holocaust and the bravery of the Red Army soldiers who liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
Around the world, Jewish organisations lead commemorative events marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, emphasising the urgency of combating xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance. In Russia, the Holocaust Remembrance Week, organised by the Russian Jewish Congress, is being held for the 11th time this year, running from January 15 to 31.
🙏 These commemorative events help preserve the historical truth about the atrocities of World War II, remind of the Red Army’s liberation of Auschwitz, and honour the heroism of all peoples of the former USSR and their role saving Jews and other peoples across Europe. Representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry traditionally take part in these events.
#NoStatuteOfLimitations #NeverForget #Victory80
In memory of the Holocaust tragedy, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in November 2005, co-authored by the Russian Federation, proclaiming January 27 as a day of remembrance for the millions of victims of the Nazi genocide — Jews, Roma, Slavs and members of other ethnic groups.
The Nazi regime’s systematic policy of exterminating peoples deemed undesirable by Hitler’s Germany resulted in the ruthless murder of over 6 million Jews, along with millions of others.
In January 1942, during the Wannsee Conference, the Third Reich’s senior officials approved the so-called “Final solution to the Jewish question”, which aimed to annihilate 11 million Jews. That same year, the Nazi leadership finalised the Generalplan Ost, which called for the “relocation” or extermination of over 30 million Slavs and the “Germanisation” of Eastern Europe.
📄 The full extent of the Holocaust’s horrors became known to the general public after the liberation of Nazi concentration camps in 1945. Irrefutable evidence of genocide, including documentary materials, survivor testimonies and confessions from the Nazis themselves, were presented during the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946). Key Nazi leaders, including those directly involved in the Holocaust organisation and execution, were convicted and sentenced to death or life imprisonment.
Today we honour all victims of the Holocaust and the bravery of the Red Army soldiers who liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
Around the world, Jewish organisations lead commemorative events marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, emphasising the urgency of combating xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance. In Russia, the Holocaust Remembrance Week, organised by the Russian Jewish Congress, is being held for the 11th time this year, running from January 15 to 31.
🙏 These commemorative events help preserve the historical truth about the atrocities of World War II, remind of the Red Army’s liberation of Auschwitz, and honour the heroism of all peoples of the former USSR and their role saving Jews and other peoples across Europe. Representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry traditionally take part in these events.
#NoStatuteOfLimitations #NeverForget #Victory80
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🗓 June 6 is #RussianLanguageDay in Russia.
✍️ #OnThisDay in 1799 the great Russian poet, writer, playwright, historian, publicist, creator of the modern Russian literary language Alexander #Pushkin was born.
🇷🇺 On June 6, 2011, the President of the Russian Federation signed a decree on the annual celebration of Russian Language Day in order to “preserve, support and develop the Russian language as a national treasure of the peoples of the Russian Federation, a tool of international communication and an integral part of the cultural and spiritual heritage of world civilization”.
Russian is one of the most popular languages in the world.
It has a rich literary heritage and is one of the most dynamic languages. Today, Russian is spoken by over 250 million citizens of Russia and other countries.
Watch the video to learn more interesting facts 👆
#RussianLanguage
✍️ #OnThisDay in 1799 the great Russian poet, writer, playwright, historian, publicist, creator of the modern Russian literary language Alexander #Pushkin was born.
🇷🇺 On June 6, 2011, the President of the Russian Federation signed a decree on the annual celebration of Russian Language Day in order to “preserve, support and develop the Russian language as a national treasure of the peoples of the Russian Federation, a tool of international communication and an integral part of the cultural and spiritual heritage of world civilization”.
Russian is one of the most popular languages in the world.
It has a rich literary heritage and is one of the most dynamic languages. Today, Russian is spoken by over 250 million citizens of Russia and other countries.
Watch the video to learn more interesting facts 👆
#RussianLanguage