🗓 On December 5, Russia marks the Day of Military Glory. #OnThisDay in 1941, the Red Army launched its counteroffensive against Nazi invaders that heralded an incipient turn of the tide in the Great Patriotic War.

By early December 1941, the Soviet group comprised 1.1 million officers and soldiers, over 7'500 artillery systems, 774 tanks and 1'000 aircraft prior to the counteroffensive. The Germans had a marked advantage, including 50% more service personnel, 80% more artillery systems and 50% more tanks.

Contrary to the predictions of the German high command that considered a large-scale Soviet counteroffensive to be impossible, it took the Red Army just 11 days to defeat the Wehrmacht’s Army Group Centre. The Soviet forces advanced 65-125 km along the entire line of contact, hurled the enemy back by 100-250 km and stopped it 150-400 km from Moscow by April 20, 1942.

The enemy was expelled from the Moscow, Tula and Ryazan regions, as well as from numerous districts of the Kalinin and Smolensk regions.

❗️ German troops’ morale was undermined. During the counteroffensive near Moscow, Soviet defenders managed to dispel the myth of the Wehrmacht’s invincibility and to inflict the first major defeat on Hitler during World War II.

Over 500'000 enemy officers and men were killed, wounded or went missing in action during the operation. The Nazis lost 1'300 tanks and 2'500 artillery systems.

The Soviet counteroffensive during the Battle of Moscow came to symbolise heroism and fortitude and had tremendous strategic significance for the entire course of the Great Patriotic War. The Red Army’s success helped strengthen the Anti-Hitler Coalition and forced the governments of Japan and Turkiye to refrain from entering the war on the side of Germany.

🎖 ~ One million defenders defenders of the Soviet capital received the Medal for the Defence of Moscow, and 110 people became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

In May 1965, ahead of the 20th Victory Day anniversary, Moscow was awarded the honorary title of the Hero City.

#Victory80

#Victory80

🌟 February 2, 1943, one of the most brutal battles of #WWII and all of history — the Battle of Stalingrad — concluded.

For 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ days and nights the Battle of Stalingrad raged on the banks of the Don and the Volga rivers, and in the city proper, or rather what was left of it following merciless Nazi bombardments and stubborn defender fighting for every street, alley and house. The battle itself surpassed in scope and intensity all prior battles of #WWII. During that battle, more than 2.1 million people fought on both sides.

By the end of June 1942, the Nazis concentrated in the strip of land from Kursk to Taganrog on the front of 600-650 kilometers up to 35% of infantry, over 50% of armour and motorized divisions of the total number of Wehrmacht troops deployed on the Soviet-German front.

During the planning of the Stalingrad operation, the enemy had several objectives: to gain a foothold on the Volga River and thus deprive the #SovietUnion of control over one of the most important transportation arteries of the country. The capture of #Stalingrad, according to the assessment of the Nazi military command, would open the way for the Wehrmacht to the Caucasus, where the Germans hoped to obtain the most important resource for making the war machine continue — oil fields.

Traditionally, according to the historians, the Battle was divided into two stages:

• Defensive phase: from July 17 to November 18, 1942;
• Offensive phase: from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943.

During the first stage, July 17 - November 18, 1942, the Red Army had to conduct defensive operations and engaged the enemy in fierce street battles directly in the city. The forces of the 62nd and 64th Soviet armies, led by Vassily Chuikov, commander of the 62nd Army, engaged the troops of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht under the command of Lieutenant General Paulus.

By mid-November 1942, as a result of stubborn resistance and the deployment of the Red Army reserves favorable conditions were created for launching the counteroffensive. The plan for the operation code-named #Uranus was developed under the leadership of Army General Georgy Zhukov and Colonel General Alexander Vasilevsky.

During the large-scale counteroffensive at Stalingrad (November 19, 1942 — February 2, 1943), Soviet forces conducted the operation #Ring, during which the Red Army managed to drive Paulus's 6th Army into a “cauldron” between the Don and Volga rivers. Realizing the futility of further action, by the end of January the Nazi units began to surrender en masse.

On January, 31, General Paulus (promoted by Hitler to to General-Field Marshal), together with other German generals and officers at Stalingrad finally surrendered. On February 2, the last pockets of Nazi resistance were eliminated.

The #BattleOfStalingrad ended with a complete victory of the Red Army. For the first time ever the all-consuming Nazi war machine was weighed, measured and found wanting. This marked a turning point not only in the the Great Patriotic War, but that of the entire #WWII.

In Stalingrad, Wehrmacht and its auxiliary forces from the Axis lost 1/4 of all troops deployed by the Reich on the Eastern front. Total enemy losses amount to ~1.5 million soldiers and officers.

From that moment forward the strategic initiative was on the side of the Red Army. The Victory in Stalingrad created favourable conditions for further full-scale counteroffensive of Soviet forces to expel the enemy from the Nazi-occupied territory of the USSR.

🌐 The defeat of the bulk of the enemy troops not only shocked the world and significantly raised the international prestige of the Soviet Union and its Armed Forces, but also contributed to the strengthening and tightening of the anti-Hitler coalition.

🎖 Victory in the Battle of Stalingrad was in large achieved through superior strategy and tactics, but also due to mass heroism of Soviet soldiers, officers and hard work of all those on the home front. 112 participants of the Battle were awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

#WeRemember

#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