🏅 February 2 marks the anniversary of the Victory in the Battle of Stalingrad — one of the largest and greatest battles of all time. It was #OTD in 1943, that the Red Army defeated the Nazi hordes comprising Germans and their Axis cronies in the Battle of Stalingrad.

In people's eye the battle became a symbol of the indestructibility, steadfastness and selflessness of the Soviet people. Against all odds for 200 days the defenders of Stalingrad fought off enemy waves, finally getting the upper hand and destroying Third Reich's best troops.

It was here that the largest and fiercest battles in history, which radically changed the course of World War II, took place.

This victory in Stalingrad, where the largest group of Nazi Germany troops and its satellites was defeated, was the beginning of the end for the Axis, as well as created conditions enabling Soviet forces to mount a large-scale counteroffensive aimed at expelling the invaders from the Motherland.

Beside strategic and tactical superiority of the Red Army, to the surprise of the Wehrmacht and their Nazi ideologues who deemed themselves better than everyone else, a key factor in the Victory was the will of the Soviet fighters who clang on to every street, nook and cranny. The story of the famous Pavlov's House has become legend, but it's based on a feat of glory, unlike any other, beyond human capability.

✊ The city and its defenders did not surrender to the enemy. Thanks to the incredible will to live, fortitude and courage of the Soviet people — the Nazis suffered a crushing defeat.

🎥 © Russian Military Historical Society

#Stalingrad #Victory80

#FacesOfVictory

🌟 On February 8, 1945 — exactly 8️⃣0️⃣ years ago — a group of ten Soviet prisoners of war led by Mikhail Devyatayev carried out one of the most daring escapes from Nazi captivity.

In July 1944, Devyatayev’s plane was shot down near Lvov, and he was captured unconscious. A month later, the senior lieutenant attempted to escape, but was caught and sent to the Sachsenhausen death camp.

The pilot managed to swap his death row inmate patch for a penal prisoner’s number, assuming a new identity. Under a false name he went to a different concentration camp on the Usedom Island, near the Peenemünde rocket centre in the Baltic Sea, where German scientists were testing V-2 rockets.

On February 8, Devyatayev and his comrades were taken out for repair works at a local airfield. The Germans were unaware that they had a highly experienced Soviet pilot among the prisoners. Before his capture, the fighter pilot had completed nearly 200 sorties, took part in dozens of aerial battles, and shot down multiple enemy aircraft.

✈️ Seizing the opportunity, Devyatayev and nine other Soviet prisoners stealthily killed a guard and hijacked a German Heinkel bomber. The Soviet pilot broke away from the pursuit and flew beyond enemy lines.

Upon returning to the Soviet Union, Devyatayev provided valuable intelligence on the location of missile installations, which were later destroyed in an airstrike. The Peenemünde testing site was captured by Soviet forces in March 1945.

🎖 On August 15, 1957, Mikhail Devyatayev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

#Victory80