In the summer and autumn of 1944, the Red Army continued to inflict Stalinist blows on the enemy.
The sixth blow was delivered by the forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union I. S. Konev. Back in early May 1944, Zhukov was recalled to Headquarters and I.S. Konev was appointed commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, R.Ya. Malinovsky was appointed commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, F.I. Tolbukhin was appointed commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front .

Stalin called the Lvov-Sandomierz operation the sixth blow against the enemy. It was carried out from July 13 to August 29, 1944. Our troops were opposed by the German troops of the Northern Ukraine Army Group. By the end time, it coincides with the Belarusian operation. Conducting operations at the same time did not allow the German command to maneuver forces. And the Red Army by this time had a sufficient number of forces and means for the simultaneous conduct of even major operations.

The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front had over 1.1 million people, 16,100 guns and mortars, over 2,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 3,250 aircraft. The German group of troops "Northern Ukraine" consisted of 900 thousand people, 6300 guns and mortars, 900 tanks and assault guns, 700 aircraft.
Yes, from the first to the last day of the war, the Soviet army had a sufficient number of weapons to fight the enemy: in the first year of the war, our army had weapons in sufficient quantities for a successful defense, and in subsequent years of the war - for more and more successful offensives and complete defeat enemy. In today's Russia, they don't know about it.

Let us recall the balance of forces and means at the beginning of the German offensive against Moscow in accordance with the Typhoon operation developed by the Germans. This is the period when our army had the smallest number of weapons in the entire war. At that time, the Germans had superiority in people - 1.4 times, in guns and mortars - 1.8 times, in tanks - 1.7 times, in aircraft - 2 times. As you can see, even at that time, the Germans did not have superiority in any type of weapon by more than 2 times.

Already in November 1942, at the beginning of the offensive near Stalingrad, Soviet troops had more than two times more tanks than the armies of Germany and its allies opposing it.
The troops of I. S. Konev, despite the largest Belarusian operation at that time, had an advantage over the enemy in people - 1.2 times, in guns and mortars - 2.5 times, in tanks and self-propelled guns - 2.2 times, in airplanes 4.6 times. I suppose that such a great superiority in aircraft is also due to the fact that light U-2 aircraft were also included in the number of our combat aircraft.

Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front were successfully advancing. In the area of ​​​​the city of Brody on July 22, 8 enemy divisions were surrounded and destroyed. On July 27, Lvov, Przemysl, and Stanislav were liberated. Army Group "Northern Ukraine" was divided into two parts, of which one part retreated to the Vistula, and the second - to the Carpathians. In order to concentrate all the forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front in the main direction, the 4th Ukrainian Front was formed from part of the armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of General of the Army I.E. Petrov, who continued to pursue the Germans in the Carpathian direction.

The troops of I. S. Konev, in cooperation with the troops of K. K. Rokossovsky (1st Belorussian Front), were ordered to develop an offensive in a westerly direction. July 29 - August 1, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front crossed the Vistula and captured several bridgeheads on its western bank in the Sandomierz region, which were then expanded and merged into one Sandomierz bridgehead.

The Germans gathered and threw huge forces against the troops on the bridgehead. Even battalions of King Tiger tanks attacked our units. Fierce battles unfolded near Sandomierz. The Soviet troops survived. The enemy suffered heavy losses and did not succeed. Favorable conditions were created for the subsequent offensive. While holding the bridgehead, our troops also distinguished themselves by the fact that, in the process of repulsing enemy attacks, they managed to surround and destroy three enemy divisions on the bridgehead in the Sandomierz area.

The seventh strike was the Iasi-Kishinev operation, carried out in the period from August 20 to 29. Our troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts had 1.25 million people, 16 thousand guns and mortars, 1870 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2200 aircraft. The enemy had 900 thousand people, 7600 guns and mortars, over 400 tanks and assault guns, 810 aircraft. The troops of R. Ya. Malinovsky and F. I. Tolbukhin utterly defeated the German and Romanian troops, destroying 22 German divisions surrounded near Chisinau and defeating all the Romanian divisions. 208.6 thousand prisoners were captured.

After fierce fighting, on August 21, our troops captured the city of Iasi, and on August 29 they liberated the city of Chisinau, as well as the entire Moldavian Soviet Republic and the Izmail region, entered deep into Romania. On August 31, Soviet troops entered Bucharest, the capital of Romania, and brought the latter out of the war on the side of Germany (Romania declared war on Nazi Germany and Hungary), disabled Germany's ally, Bulgaria, which also declared war on Germany, opened the way to the territory of the last and most faithful ally of Germany - Hungary and on the territory of friendly to us, especially Serbs who suffered during the war. At the borders of Hungary and Yugoslavia, the seventh strike was completed.

In addition, the seventh blow destroyed the plans of the Anglo-Americans to occupy Romania and other Balkan countries and invade between our and German troops. They hoped so, despite the fact that the offensive of their troops in Italy developed slowly, and in August 1944 it was still very far from the Balkans.

The eighth blow, Stalin called the defeat of German troops in September near Tallinn, and in October - near Riga and the almost complete expulsion of the Germans from the Baltic states. As a result of the eighth strike, 30 German divisions were cut off from East Prussia.

The ninth blow is a blow inflicted during the Belgrade and Budapest operations with the aim of withdrawing Hungary from the war and expelling the Nazi troops from Transcarpathian Ukraine, Hungary, Yugoslavia, as well as entering the territory of Czechoslovakia. Time of strike: from September 28 to October 20, 1944 during the Belgorod operation and from October 29, 1944 to February 13, 1945 during the Budapest operation.

The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, with the participation of part of the forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, were only able to achieve the ultimate goal of the strike and take by storm the capital of Hungary - the city of Budapest, only on February 13, 1945, since very powerful defensive fortifications and strong groupings of enemy troops appeared near Budapest. The fighting was extremely fierce.

This blow allowed us to help Yugoslavia, whose People's Liberation Army was the only Eastern European country that did not submit to the Germans and conducted active military operations against the German troops throughout the war. Despite the fact that on October 20, units of the Soviet army entered Belgrade along with the army of Yugoslavia, the complete expulsion of the enemy from the country continued by the Yugoslav army and ended only in May 1945. This blow also helped the Slovaks and Czechs who fought against the German invaders.

Stalin called the tenth blow the blow of our troops in order to expel the Germans from the Soviet Arctic: the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation, which provides for the liberation of the territory of the Murmansk region occupied by the enemy and the expulsion of the enemy from the Pechenga (Petsamo) region. The blow was delivered by the forces of the Karelian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union Kirill Afanasyevich Meretskov and the 7th Air Army.

The Germans had 53 thousand people, over 750 guns and mortars, over 160 aircraft and a significant naval force based in the ports of Northern Norway. Our 14th Army of the Karelian Front attacked the enemy, which had 97 thousand people, 2.1 thousand guns and mortars, 126 tanks and self-propelled guns, a total of about 1000 aircraft and part of the forces of the Northern Fleet. The fighting unfolded near the Barents Sea.

Our troops, in cooperation with the Northern Fleet, liberated the port of Linakhamari, the city of Petsamo (Pechenga) and reached the border with Norway. On October 22, they captured the village of Nikel. Having crossed the Soviet-Norwegian border, our army pushed the enemy away from the border of the USSR, freeing a number of Norwegian cities from the Germans. Soviet troops did not begin to go deeper into the territory of Norway.

The Allies did not disarm the German troops assembled in Norway for a long time, holding them against the USSR just in case. At the Potsdam Conference in the summer of 1945, Stalin pointed out to the Allies that the 400,000-strong group of German troops in Norway was not disarmed.

As a result of the 10th strike, the enemy lost only 30 thousand people killed. The Soviet fleet sank 156 enemy ships and vessels. Aviation destroyed 125 enemy aircraft.
This is how, step by step, the Soviet troops liberated their native land from the invaders.

Ten Stalinist strikes in 1944 completed the expulsion of the enemy from the territory of the Soviet Union. I would like to believe that the glory of the heroes who liberated our Motherland from a cruel enemy will live forever, and the memory of them will be preserved by all subsequent generations until the end of time.

During the summer campaign of 1944, our army covered over 900 kilometers from Chisinau to Belgrade, more than 600 kilometers from Zhlobin to Warsaw, and 550 kilometers from Vitebsk to Tilsit. The Red Army, as a result of the strikes, defeated 136 enemy divisions.
The year 1944 is the holy year of the cleansing of our land from the enemy and the year of the glory of Soviet weapons. Feats accomplished only in Stalin's time are enough for the faith of all subsequent generations in the greatness of the peoples of Russia.

In 1944, the Soviet Army launched an offensive in all sectors of the front - from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea. In January, the offensive of parts of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts began, supported by the Baltic Fleet, the result of which was a complete liberation of Leningrad from enemy blockade, which lasted 900 days, and the expulsion of the Nazis from Novgorod. By the end of February, in cooperation with the troops of the Baltic Front, Leningrad, Novgorod and part of the Kalinin region were completely liberated.

At the end of January, the offensive of the troops of the Ukrainian fronts in the Right-Bank Ukraine began. Fierce battles flared up in February in the area of ​​the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky grouping, in March - near Chernivtsi. At the same time, enemy groups were defeated in the Nikolaev-Odessa region. Since April, offensive operations have been launched in the Crimea. Simferopol was taken on April 9, and Sevastopol on May 9.

In April, having crossed the river. Prut, our armies have transferred military operations to the territory of Romania. The state border of the USSR was restored for several hundred kilometers.

The successful offensive of the Soviet troops in the winter - spring of 1944 accelerated opening a second front in Europe. On June 6, 1944, Anglo-American troops landed in Normandy (France). However, the main front of the Second World War continued to be the Soviet-German, where the main forces of Nazi Germany were concentrated.

In June - August 1944, the troops of the Leningrad, Karelian fronts and the Baltic Fleet, having defeated the Finnish units on the Karelian Isthmus, liberated Vyborg, Petrozavodsk and on August 9 reached the state border with Finland, whose government on September 4 ceased hostilities against the USSR, and after the defeat of the Nazis in the Baltic States (mainly in Estonia) on October 1 declared war on Germany. At the same time, the armies of the Belorussian and Baltic fronts, having defeated the enemy troops in Belarus and Lithuania, liberated Minsk, Vilnius and reached the border of Poland and Germany.

In July - September, parts of the Ukrainian fronts liberated all of Western Ukraine. On August 31, the Germans were driven out of Bucharest (Romania). In early September, Soviet troops entered the territory of Bulgaria.

In the fall of 1944, fierce battles began for liberation of the Baltics- On September 22, Tallinn was liberated, on October 13 - Riga. At the end of October, the Soviet Army entered Norway. In parallel with the offensive in the Baltic states and in the North, in September-October, our armies liberated part of the territory of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia. The Czechoslovak Corps, formed on the territory of the USSR, took part in the battles for the liberation of Czechoslovakia. The troops of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, together with the armies of Marshal F. I. Tolbukhin, liberated Belgrade on October 20.

The result of the offensive of the Soviet Army in 1944 was complete liberation of the territory of the USSR from fascist invaders and bringing the war into enemy territory.

The victory in the fight against Nazi Germany was obvious. It was achieved not only in battles, but as a result of the heroic labor of the Soviet people in the rear. Despite the enormous destruction caused to the national economy of the country, its industrial potential was constantly growing. In 1944, Soviet industry surpassed military production not only in Germany, but in England and the USA, producing about 30,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, more than 40,000 aircraft, and over 120,000 guns. The Soviet Army was provided with an abundance of light and heavy machine guns, machine guns and rifles. The Soviet economy, thanks to the selfless labor of the workers and peasants, defeated the entire European industry taken together, which was almost completely placed at the service of Nazi Germany. On the liberated lands, the restoration of the national economy immediately began.

It should be noted the work of Soviet scientists, engineers and technicians, who created first-class models of weapons and provided the front with them, which to a large extent determined the victory over the enemy.
Their names are well known - V. G. Grabin, P. M. Goryunov, V. A. Degtyarev, S. V. Ilyushin, S. A. Lavochkin, V. F. Tokarev, G. S. Shpagin, A. S. Yakovlev and others.

The works of remarkable Soviet writers, poets, composers (A. Korneichuk, L. Leonov, K. Simonov, A. Tvardovsky, M. Sholokhov, D. Shostakovich, etc.) ). The unity of the rear and the front was the key to victory.

In 1945, the Soviet Army had an absolute numerical superiority in manpower and equipment. The military potential of Germany was significantly weakened, since it actually found itself without allies and raw material bases. Considering that the Anglo-American troops did not show much activity with the development of offensive operations, the Germans still kept the main forces - 204 divisions - on the Soviet-German front. Moreover, at the end of December 1944, in the Ardennes region, the Germans, with less than 70 divisions, broke through the Anglo-American front and began to push the allied forces, over which there was a threat of encirclement and destruction. On January 6, 1945, British Prime Minister W. Churchill turned to Supreme Commander-in-Chief JV Stalin with a request to expedite offensive operations. Faithful to their allied duty, on January 12, 1945, the Soviet troops (instead of 20) launched an offensive, the front of which stretched from the shores of the Baltic to the Carpathian Mountains and was equal to 1200 km. A powerful offensive was carried out between the Vistula and the Oder - against Warsaw and Vienna. By the end of January was crossed the Oder, released Breslau. January 17 released Warsaw, then Poznan, April 9 - Koenigsberg(now Kaliningrad), April 4 - Bratislava, 13 - Vein. The result of the winter offensive of 1915 was the liberation of Poland, Hungary, East Prussia, Pomerania, Danni, parts of Austria and Silesia. Brandenburg was taken. Soviet troops reached the line Oder - Neisse - Spree. Preparations began for the storming of Berlin.

As early as the beginning of 1945 (February 4-13), a conference of leaders of the USSR, the USA, and Great Britain met in Yalta ( Yalta Conference), which addressed the issue of post-war order of the world. An agreement was reached on the cessation of hostilities only after the unconditional surrender of the fascist command. The heads of government came to an agreement on the need to eliminate the military potential of Germany, the complete destruction of Nazism, military contingents and the center of militarism - the German General Staff. At the same time, it was decided to convict the war criminals and oblige Germany to pay reparations in the amount of 20 billion dollars for the damage caused during the war to the countries with which she fought. The earlier decision to establish an international body for the maintenance of peace and security was confirmed - United Nations. The government of the USSR gave a promise to the allies to enter the war against Japanese imperialism three months after the surrender of Germany.

In the second half of April - early May, the Soviet Army delivered the last blows to Germany. On April 16, the operation to encircle Berlin began, ending by April 25. After a powerful bombardment and artillery shelling, stubborn street battles began. On April 30, between 2 and 3 pm, a red flag was hoisted over the Reichstag.

On May 9, the last enemy grouping was liquidated and Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, was liberated. Hitler's army ceased to exist. May 8 in the Berlin suburb of Karlhorst was signed act of unconditional surrender of Germany.

The Great Patriotic War ended with the final defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies. The Soviet Army not only bore the brunt of the war on its shoulders, liberated Europe from fascism, but also saved the Anglo-American troops from defeat, giving them the opportunity to fight against the small German garrisons.

Victory Parade on Red Square - June 24, 1945

On July 17, 1945, a conference of the heads of government of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain met in Potsdam ( Potsdam conference), discussing the outcome of the war. The leaders of the three powers agreed to permanently eliminate German militarism, the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and prevent its revival. Issues related to the payment of reparations by Germany were resolved.

After the defeat of Nazi Germany, Japan continued to conduct military operations against the United States, Britain and other countries. The military actions of Japan also threatened the security of the USSR. The Soviet Union, fulfilling its allied obligations, on August 8, 1945, after rejecting the offer of surrender, declared war on Japan. Japan occupied a significant territory of China, Korea, Manchuria, Indochina. On the border with the USSR, the Japanese government kept a million-strong Kwantung Army, threatening a constant attack, which diverted significant forces of the Soviet Army. Thus, Japan objectively helped the Nazis in an aggressive war. On August 9, our units went on the offensive on three fronts, began Soviet-Japanese War. The entry of the USSR into the war, which had been unsuccessfully waged for several years by the Anglo-American troops, dramatically changed the situation.

Within two weeks, the main force of Japan, the Kwantung Army and its supporting units, was completely defeated. In an effort to raise their "prestige", the United States, without any military necessity, dropped two atomic bombs on peaceful Japanese cities - Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Continuing the offensive, the Soviet Army liberated South Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Manchuria, and a number of cities and ports in North Korea. Seeing that the continuation of the war is meaningless, September 2, 1945 Japan surrendered. Japan's defeat World War II ended. The long-awaited peace has come.

THIS DAY WE APPROVED AS WE COULD...

Great Patriotic War in dates and memoirs of veterans

Yuzhnoportovy district

1943 August 13 The Donbass offensive operation of the Southwestern and Southern Fronts began and continued until September 22. August 17th. The troops of the Steppe Front began fighting on the northern outskirts of Kharkov. August 23. The Belgorod-Kharkov operation ended. The troops of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts advanced 140 km to the south and south-west and liberated Kharkov. August 25 - December 22. Battle for the Dnieper troops of the Central, Voronezh, Steppe, South-Western and Southern fronts. It included the Chernigov-Pripyat, Gomel-Rechitsa, Donbass, Dnieper airborne, Kyiv offensive and defensive, Melitopol and Zaporozhye operations. 25-th of August. The Chernigov-Pripyat offensive operation began. August 31. The troops of the Central Front entered the borders of northern Ukraine. September 18th. More than 700 settlements have been liberated in the Kiev, Zaporozhye, Melitopol, Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava, Krasnograd, Smolensk, Roslavl directions. September 19th. Parts of the Central Front crossed the Desna. More than 1,200 settlements have been liberated in the Kiev, Zaporozhye, Melitopol, Poltava, and Bryansk directions. September 21. Chernihiv is liberated. September 22nd. Parts of the 13th Army crossed the Dnieper. 23 September. The troops of the Steppe Front crossed the Vorskla River and liberated Poltava. September 24th. The Dnieper airborne operation began (about 10 thousand people). Until October 5, the paratroopers fought behind enemy lines in separate groups. September 25th. The troops of the Steppe and Southwestern Fronts crossed the Dnieper. September 26th. The troops of the Bryansk Front began the liberation of Belarus. The troops of the Voronezh Front crossed the Dnieper. The Melitopol offensive operation began. The left bank of the Dnieper near Kyiv has been completely cleared. September 30th. The Chernigov-Pripyat operation ended, the troops advanced up to 300 km, seized bridgeheads in the Chernobyl area. 2 October. The Smolensk operation ended, the troops advanced 200-250 km westward, defeating 7 enemy divisions, and the liberation of Belarus began. October 3rd. The Bryansk operation ended, the Bryansk industrial region and part of Belarus were liberated. October 6th. The Nevelsk offensive operation of the troops of the Kalinin Front began. October 7th. Nevel was liberated, units of the Kalinin Front reached the approaches to Vitebsk. 10 October. The Nevelsk operation ended: the enemy defenses in the Nevel, Velikiye Luki region were broken through and the Dno-Vitebsk railroad connecting the North and Center army groups was cut. The Zaporizhzhya offensive began. The Zaporozhye operation was completed, Zaporozhye was liberated. October 23. Melitopol was liberated, the Germans began to retreat to the Dnieper. the 25th of October. Dnepropetrovsk and Dneprodzerzhinsk were liberated. November 3 - 23. Kyiv offensive operation. November 5. The withdrawal of German troops from Kyiv began. The Melitopol operation was completed, the Crimean enemy grouping was blocked from land. November 6th. Kyiv is liberated. November 7th. The railroad connecting the Kyiv and Krivoy Rog enemy groups was cut. 10th of November. The Gomel-Rechitsa offensive operation of the troops of the Belorussian Front began. 13 - 22 December. Kiev defensive operation of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front. November 26th. Gomel is liberated. November 30th. The Gomel-Rechitsa operation was completed, a threat was created to the southern flank of Army Group Center. Fierce fighting troops of the Ukrainian fronts. December 13th. The city of Cherkasy was liberated. 20th of December. The operation to create a strategic foothold on the right bank of the Dnieper has been completed. Dec 22. The Kiev defensive operation was completed, the front was stabilized on the line east of Chernyakhiv - Radomyshl. The battle for the Dnieper ended: a heavy defeat was inflicted on the army groups "South" and "Center", more than 38 thousand settlements were liberated, including 160 cities. December 24, 1943 - April 17, 1944 The offensive of troops in the Right-Bank Ukraine. Included: Zhytomyr-Berdichev, Kirovohrad, Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, Rovno-Lutsk, Nikolsko-Krivorozhskaya, Proskurov-Chernivtsi, Uman-Botoshanskaya, Bereznegovat-Snigirevskaya, Odessa and Polessky operations. The Zhytomyr-Berdychiv offensive operation began. The Gorodok operation was completed, the front line was pushed back 60 km. Zhitomir is liberated. January 14, 1944 The Zhytomyr-Berdichev operation ended, the Kiev and Zhytomyr regions, a number of districts of the Vinnitsa and Rivne regions were almost completely liberated, 6 enemy divisions were defeated. January 24 - February 17. Korsun-Shevchenko offensive operation. January 27 - February 11. Rovno-Lutsk offensive operation. February 2. Lutsk and Rivne were liberated. 11 February. The Rovno-Lutsk operation ended, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front advanced 80 km west. February 17. The Korsun-Shevchenko operation was completed, 15 enemy divisions were defeated, including 8 tank divisions. 10th of March. Tank formations cut the Lvov-Odessa railway (the main communication of the southern wing of the enemy troops). March 13. Kherson is liberated. March 15 - April 4. Polissya offensive operation. March 17. The offensive of the Soviet troops on the Right-Bank Ukraine was completed. The liberation of Moldova began. 20th of March. Vinnitsa is liberated. March 26 - April 14. Odessa offensive operation. March 28th. Troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front liberated Nikolaev and crossed the Southern Bug. March 29. Chernivtsi liberated. April, 4. The enemy broke through to the city of Kovel and unblocked it. The Soviet troops, having inflicted a defeat on 12 enemy divisions, stopped the Polessky operation, taking up an enveloping position in relation to Kovel. April 7th. A grouping of German troops (23 divisions, including 10 tank divisions) broke out of the encirclement and connected with the troops that launched a counterattack in the Lvov area. April 10th. Odessa is liberated. 14th of April. Tarnopol (Ternopol), Mykolaiv and Odessa regions were liberated. 9th May. Sevastopol is liberated. June 23 - August 29. Began: Belarusian strategic offensive operation (code name "Bagration"). Included: at the first stage (until July 4) - Vitebsk-Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk, Minsk and Polotsk; at the second stage (July 5 - August 29) - the Vilnius, Bialystok, Siauliai, Lublin-Brest and Kaunas operations; Vitebsk-Orsha and Mogilev offensive operations (until June 28); 24 - 29 June. Bobruisk offensive operation. June 26th. Vitebsk and Zhlobin were liberated. June 28th. Mogilev is liberated. June 29. The Bobruisk operation ended, Bobruisk was liberated. June 29 - July 4. Polotsk and Minsk offensive operations. 3 July. Minsk is liberated. July 9th The troops of the Belorussian Front reached the line of the Neman and Molchad rivers. July 15. Troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front crossed the Neman. July 16. The Zaneman part of Grodno was liberated. July 17th. The city of Sebezh was liberated. Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front entered the territory of Poland. 57,600 German prisoners of war soldiers, officers and generals under escort passed through the squares and streets of Moscow. July 18 - August 2. Lublin-Brest offensive operation. July 27th. The enemy grouping in the Brest area is surrounded. July 28th. Brest was liberated, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front reached the Vistula and continued to move towards Warsaw. July. By mid-summer, the occupied regions of the RSFSR were liberated. During the war, Germany captured vast Soviet territories, where almost half of the country's total population lived - 80 million people. Almost 5 million were taken to Germany for forced labor, about half of them died.

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Kolya Yasnopolsky had not been spoiled by life before, but the boy was stubborn and managed to achieve a lot. Originally from a village, he became an orphan at the age of 10. The boy was taken to his brother - the founder of the legendary Magnitogorsk. When the war began, Nikolai was sent to serve in the anti-aircraft artillery school, which was evacuated to Ufa. The course of study at the school was short in a military way. By the end of 1942, Nikolai had already graduated from college with honors and received the rank of lieutenant. He could remain at the school as a platoon commander of cadets, but he turned to the command with a request to send him to the front. Nikolai fought on the 2nd Ukrainian, on the 2nd Belorussian fronts. At first he was the commander of a fire platoon of the 2nd battery of the 1716th Separate Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment. Then he took command of the battery - after the death of the battalion commander Dmitry Zvezdin. The battery, commanded by D. Zvezdin, and then by Nikolai, shot down 13 enemy aircraft. “Enemy vultures have swooped in. They tried to bomb the battle formations of our troops when there was a battle for Ensk. The anti-aircraft gunners of Lieutenant Yasnopolsky opened fire. The guns of senior sergeant Kochiev also fired on German aircraft. Sergeant Soroka diligently filed shells. Enemy planes began to come in to bomb the anti-aircraft gunners. At this time, shells from Kochiev's cannon hit a German aircraft. The enemy vehicle on fire fell to the ground ”(from an article in an army newspaper, 1944). The fighting on the right bank of the Dnieper was especially heavy. In flying weather, attacks by enemy dive bombers had to be repulsed every hour, every minute. The infantry could hide in trenches and dugouts, but they, the anti-aircraft gunners, had no right to hide - even in the most brutal raids. Terrible notches remained in my memory: wells clogged with the corpses of our soldiers, stars carved on the backs of Soviet officers, the great grief of the inhabitants of Ukrainian cities and villages ... At the front, fate brought him together with writers for the first time. It brought together in an amazing way: tanks built at the expense of A. Tolstoy, A. Korneichuk came to their corps ... Alexander Mitrofanovich Bondarev continues to recall: “From April to September 1943, our 167th division fought defensive battles near the city of Sumy. My platoon was defending not far from the village of Bititsa, in front of a small river. The battalion commander called me and ordered me to take the "tongue". I picked up the best soldiers, and we began to conduct surveillance in the company's defense zone. We clarified where the German machine-gun crew is located, convenient for capturing the “tongue”. They did everything according to a given program: at a strictly defined time they had breakfast, lunch, dinner, fired from machine guns, artillery and mortars, illuminated the area with rockets. At night, during the rain, we moved in a chain along the stream. A sapper walked ahead, showing us the passages in the minefield. At the appointed place they crossed the stream and began to move in dashes to the machine-gun crew of the Germans. About 50 meters away, three crawled to the trench, and two prepared to divert the fire on themselves. Without much fuss, one German was killed, the second was gagged and his hands were tied. When dragging the "tongue", the Germans lit flares several times. Not far from the river, the Nazis discovered us and opened heavy fire from six-barreled mortars. Our artillery returned fire after a red rocket fired in our direction. One of our scouts was killed, another wounded in the leg. We had to drag the dead man and the "tongue". The task was completed, the command received important information from the captured fascist. During the attack for the settlement of Nedrigailov (Sumy region) on September 5, I was wounded in the right leg by an explosive bullet. The 167th division was preparing to cross the Dnieper. The enemy clung to the water line, did everything to keep Kyiv. The 520th regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Akulov. Having been discharged from the hospital, I arrived at my regiment. Not to know was our combat unit. The soldiers became builders: they carried timber, boards, barrels. Rafts were made from all available improvised means so that soldiers, weapons and ammunition could be transported. The crossing was very difficult. On October 18, 1943, my assault group, under the cover of fog, quietly crossed the old channel of the Dnieper to the island of the Black Death. Together with us, Petropavlov's company, machine-gun and 50mm mortar platoons also crossed to the island. They began to dig in, but cold October water appeared at a depth of half a meter. The Nazis discovered us and opened fire with all kinds of weapons. Many of our soldiers were killed and wounded. Our artillery and "Katyushas" did not soon succeed in suppressing the enemy's firing points. The desire of soldiers and officers to quickly liberate Kyiv increased our strength tenfold. Fights went on for every quarter, grenades were used and hand-to-hand fighting. By the morning of November 6, on the eve of the 26th anniversary of October, Kyiv was cleared of fascist evil spirits. The Korsun-Shevchenko group of the enemy was surrounded and destroyed. After the liberation of the city of Vasilkovo, the 167th division moved to join units of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. The 520th regiment met with units of this front in the Zvenigorodka area. In January 1944, our regiment marched in a marching column to the settlement of Votylevka. The Germans, having missed us, struck from the rear and beat our positions well. I had to leave Votylevka. In the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe settlement of Tikhonovka, they took up defense. They dug trenches and part of trenches to the height of a man in order to repel enemy attacks and prevent a breakthrough of fascist formations moving to help the encircled group. In the battles to destroy the Korsun-Shevchenko grouping, the division knocked out and destroyed 78 German tanks and self-propelled guns, captured more than 1000 people. Our 520th regiment destroyed 20 tanks, captured more than 300 people. Valentina Ivanovna Vorobieva, born in 1924, nurse in the surgical department of hospital 4916 on the 2nd Ukrainian front. The front-line hospital had its own medical train, which followed the front. They did not have time to stay in one place - they had to move to a new one. Only there work is being established, again - emergency work, redeployment. On the shoulders of the sisters was all the work of receiving, treating the wounded, and then there was the move. Urgently pack your things, but do not forget anything. It was not easy for a 17-year-old girl to start carrying weights - some of the wounded weighed 90 and 100 kilograms. Some soldiers felt sorry for the weak thin girls, others were afraid that they might drop them, asked them to leave them alone, not to carry them especially up the stairs ... The worst place in the war turned out to be in Ukraine, near Kirovograd. A German group broke through there and surrounded the hospital. And what kind of protection does he have - recovering soldiers and weapons are only personal to officers. We lived in fear for almost a day, until our tanks came and defeated the insolent Germans. And even a little bit, they would have blown up the hospital ... It was even worse when an inexperienced young surgeon “crippled” the young body of a warrior - he amputated a limb that could well have been left and cured. There was no time for the doctor to think, but it was very disappointing for the guys: who would take him into the house? Blood, pus, bandages, so many things that it’s scary to remember ... Maria Ivanovna Svistun recalls that in the summer of 1943 the 89th division went to the village of Kartoyak, Kursk region and held back the left flank of the front. 600 people were collected from the battlefields. The blood is alive and clotted, lacerated wounds, severed limbs, shell-shocked unconscious people. The Battle of Kursk ended, the division was replenished with new personnel, updated with materiel - personal weapons and tools - machine guns, cannons, mortars, went further to the west. “I remember how they crossed the Dnieper River. They crossed to the west coast in small boats of four people each. We were covered by a wave from a shell that exploded nearby. The boat was flooded, all its passengers were in the water. I can't swim, I started to drown. They barely saved me - they dragged me onto a raft with a machine-gun crew that turned out to be nearby. Once she moved from one dugout to another, neighboring one. As soon as I got out, PO-2 descended before my eyes - a downed plane and crashed into the dugout from which I came out. I see that it is difficult for the pilot to get out of the cockpit. I help him out, drag him into a neighboring dugout, and as soon as they closed the door behind them, there was an explosion - it was the plane on fire. How the pilot swore at me from shock! When our troops took Kharkov, I was awarded the medal "For Courage" - they handed it to me there. After the Battle of Kursk, she received the Order of the Red Star, then the medal "For the Victory over Germany", the medal "For Military Merit", and other commemorative medals. Ivan Mikhailovich Manokhin, born in 1925, started the war at the Malinoko station near Zhitomir, as part of the 1416th self-propelled artillery regiment. He was in charge of the combat food warehouse, at the same time he acted as assistant platoon commander. The regiment took part in the liberation of Moldova, they took the cities of Balti, Yampol, the Vapnyarka station. I remember the terrible day when the Germans bombed this junction station for an hour and a half. From the explosions of bombs, the railroad rails stood on end, torn like threads. And the 2nd Ukrainian Front desperately needed ammunition that was stored in the Manokhin warehouse. He feared most of all for his household, prayed to God that he would save ammunition. And, as they say, a miracle happened. After the bombing, they hastily began to repair the tracks, anti-aircraft gunners came to the rescue, and began to repel enemy raids. The tracks were restored, and the first train was loaded with ammunition and sent to the front line. Ivan Mikhailovich received gratitude from the command. He has awards: the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, the medal "For the Victory over Germany", commemorative medals. Alexander Ivanovich Atamanov met the war in the city of Yelets. In 1943 he was drafted into the Red Army and sent to the Moscow Mortar School. Upon completion, he was enrolled in a mortar company that fought near Orel. There he was wounded in the right leg and in the chin. The shard is still sitting there. For a month he was treated in a hospital in the city of Klintsy, Bryansk region, and was seconded to the Reserve Regiment. From there - to the front as part of the 140th Siberian Rifle Division, mortar. He served there until March 24, 1945. On that day, in a heavy battle near the city of Moravska-Ostrava, he was wounded: a bullet hit under his nose, under his right eye and went right through. With this wound, he lay in the hospital and was demobilized in the second echelon in December 1945. The most terrible and difficult battles were near Lvov. The 140th division was sent to the front reserve, in one village they fought at night, slept during the day, and then went on the attack again. Atamanov's mortar fire destroyed enemy positions so swiftly and mercilessly that the enemy was forced to retreat. The capture of Lvov was marked by the command of awarding Alexander Ivanovich with the Order of Glory 3rd degree. Iosif Grigoryevich Kheifets was born in Yelets in 1918. He served in the Red Army in Baku in the regimental school of junior commanders in the air defense forces. I was about to be demobilized when the Great Patriotic War began. So I stayed in the south. Member of the defense of the Caucasus. His anti-aircraft gun, and then the battery, division defended the sky over the Kuban. Hitler really wanted to seize the Black Sea ports and hoist a flag with a fascist swastika on Mount Elbrus. On July 26, 1942, having transported tanks and artillery across the Don, German troops launched an offensive to the south. The troops of the Southern Front could not hold back the onslaught and retreated behind the Manych Canal. On July 28, the enemy managed to force this canal in the area of ​​the Vesely farm. Order No. 227 was read to the troops, which emphasized the seriousness of the situation at the front. “The fighting is going on in the Voronezh region, on the Don, in the south, near the North Caucasus,” the Supreme Commander-in-Chief addressed the troops. “The German invaders are rushing to Stalingrad, to the Volga and want to seize the Kuban, the North Caucasus with oil and other riches at any cost ... To retreat further means to ruin ourselves and at the same time our Motherland.” The fighting of the North Caucasian Front in late July and early August proceeded in an extremely difficult situation. The enemy, who still possessed a quantitative superiority in tanks and aircraft, broke through the defenses of our troops; developing the offensive in the Stavropol direction, by the end of July 30, he had advanced to a depth of 120 km. On August 31, the Nazis captured Anapa. Our troops continued to hold their positions for a whole year until September 1943. At the same time, the advance of German troops in the area of ​​the Tersky Range towards Grozny and Ordzhonikidze was stopped. Our troops repulsed all enemy attacks in the Tuapse region, and then launched a counterattack and defeated the enemy grouping that had penetrated to the south. And here the Germans were forced to abandon the further offensive and go on the defensive. By the end of September - beginning of October in the North Caucasus, the front had stabilized everywhere. Hitler at one of the meetings said that the Crimea should be held as long as possible. The Goebbels department clarified: "If the Russians defended Sevastopol for 250 days, then we will defend it for 15 years." The army of E. Eneke was in the Crimea, it consisted of more than 195 thousand people, 3600 guns and mortars, 5400 machine guns, over 215 assault guns and tanks, 148 aircraft. On April 8, 1944, after a powerful artillery preparation that lasted three hours, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front went on the offensive and very soon broke through the front at Perekop and Sivash. On the night of April 11, from the side of the Kerch Strait, from a small bridgehead captured by our troops back in November last year (I.G. Kheifets was there with his division), the offensive of the Separate Primorsky Army began. On April 15, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front from Bakhchisaray approached the outer defensive bypass of Sevastopol. And on April 16-17, units of the Separate Primorsky Army were already approaching the city from Yalta. Our fleet approached the city from the sea. Now Sevastopol was surrounded on all sides. On the morning of May 7, artillery preparation began already in the Sapun Mountain area. Attack pilots unleashed a sea of ​​​​fire on enemy positions. The barrage of fire was powerful, but short, and now our troops launched a swift attack on the southeastern outskirts of the city. A furious trench battle broke out. It lasted 9 hours. On May 9, Sevastopol was completely liberated, the 17th army of Eneke ceased to exist, its losses on land amounted to 100 thousand people, including about 62 thousand prisoners. Iosif Kheyfets considers the medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus" his most expensive award, and he has more than twenty of them after the Order of the Red Star. Semyon Pavlovich Kutsenko, a teacher in a rural school, fought from the first to the last day of the war, commanded a radio communications platoon of the regiment, and was demobilized as a captain after 6 years of service. He received his first award for the liberation of Sevastopol. It was one of the most difficult battles. After him, the howitzer regiment received the title of Sevastopol. Became the 1232nd Sevastopol Artillery Regiment of the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Then, near Sevastopol, Semyon was shell-shocked. There was a stunning artillery noise, many could not stand it. The soldiers' eardrums burst. And in the enemy dugouts, when we appeared, the Germans sat in them, as if intoxicated. Some were bleeding from their ears, others from their mouths. They took Sapun Mountain by storm, and all those who survived received awards for participating in this battle. The second award - the Order of Glory of the 3rd degree, he received for crossing the Basi River in Belarus. There were no bridges there, the sappers tried to set up crossings in different places, but the Germans destroyed them with aimed fire. I had to wait until dark. At night they set up their rafts, pontoons. It was not yet dawn when the gunners moved their howitzers to the right bank, and after a while our troops launched an offensive, liberated more than 40 settlements. The medal "For Courage" was received for participation in the battles for the liberation of Novorossiysk. The Malaya Zemlya peninsula was filled with German pillboxes, guns, even tank towers dug into the ground. The defense seemed impregnable. Attacks were replaced by artillery preparation, bombing. Along with the explosions of shells and bombs, coastal stones flew in all directions, they were also ammunition - they hit a living body so hard, they knocked weapons out of their hands. For participation in the defense of the Caucasus and in the battles for its liberation, Semyon Pavlovich was awarded the medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus." Nikolai Nikolaevich Kalinchenko comes from a simple peasant family from the village of Yudovka, in the Kursk province. Kolya left the military school as a volunteer for the Finnish war, then fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Having started as a company political commissar, Nikolai Kalinchenko by the end of the war was already a battalion commissar, then a regiment party organizer. I had a chance to fight in Transcaucasia, in the North Caucasus. The Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War of the II degree, the medals "For Military Merit", "For the Defense of the Caucasus" - this is how the Motherland highly appreciated the military merits of N. Kalinchenko. His native land was occupied by the Nazis, a policeman from his fellow villagers reported that Kalinchenko's father's children were fighting. Mother and father were taken to the forest to be shot, but at that time the partisans arrived and managed to beat them off. Further military service of Nicholas also took place in the southern regions: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Turkmenistan, the North Caucasus, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don. The family fully experienced what the nomadic life of a military man is like. During the service, Nikolai Nikolaevich studied a lot. He retired with the rank of colonel, having served 36 years and was awarded the medals "For Impeccable Service in the Armed Forces" and "Veteran of the Armed Forces".

Annex 1

Liberation of the territory of the USSR and European countries.

Victory over Nazism in Europe (January 1944 - May 1945).

By the beginning of 1944, Germany's situation had deteriorated sharply, its material and human reserves were depleted. The German command went over to a tough defense.

As a result of the winter-spring military campaign of 1944, the main forces of the German fascist army groups were defeated and access to state border. In the spring of 1944 Crimea was cleared of the enemy.

In the summer of 1944, Soviet troops launched a powerful offensive in Karelia, Belarus, Western Ukraine and Moldova. As a result of the advance of Soviet troops in the north, on September 19, Finland, having signed a truce with the USSR, withdrew from the war, and on March 4, 1945, declared war on Germany.
In the autumn of 1944, the Soviet army helped the Bulgarian, Hungarian, Yugoslav peoples in the liberation. In May, German troops surrendered in Italy, Holland, Northwest Germany and Denmark.
In January - early April 1945, almost all of Poland and Czechoslovakia, the entire territory of Hungary were liberated.
During the Berlin operation (April 16 - May 8, 1945), the troops entered Berlin, Hitler committed suicide and the garrison laid down their arms. On May 8, 1945, the German Unconditional Surrender Act was signed in Berlin. Day of liberation of the city - May 9 - became the Day of the Victory of the Soviet people over fascism.

Battle of Moscow

He was appointed commander of the Western Front.

The Germans were on the outskirts of Moscow, 200-300 km remained to the capital

28 infantrymen from the general's rifle division at the Dubosekovo junction entered the battle against 50 fascist tanks and did not let them through to Moscow. “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind!” - These words of political instructor Vasily Klochkov spread around the entire front and became winged. The heroes died, but did not retreat.

Bloody, exhausting battles continued throughout the second half of November.

The counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Moscow developed into a general offensive of the Red Army along the entire Soviet-German front. This was the beginning of a radical turn of events during the Great Patriotic War.

As a result, the Nazi command was forced to switch to strategic defense on the entire Soviet-German front.

Battle of Kursk

It lasted from July 5 to August 23, 1943.

The general plan of the German command was to encircle and destroy the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts defending in the Kursk region. If successful, it was supposed to expand the front of the offensive and return the strategic initiative.

The Soviet command decided to first conduct defensive operations, and then go on the counteroffensive. The offensive of the enemy strike groups was suspended. Hitler's operation "Citadel" was finally buried by the largest oncoming tank battle of the entire Second World War near Prokhorovka - July 12, 1943. 1200 tanks and self-propelled guns simultaneously participated in it from both sides. The victory was for the Soviet soldiers.

On July 12, the second stage of the Battle of Kursk began - the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops. On August 5, Soviet troops liberated the cities of Orel and Belgorod. On August 23, Kharkov was liberated.

So the battle on the Kursk fiery arch ended victoriously. During it, 30 selected enemy divisions were defeated. The fascist German troops lost about 500,000 men, 1,500 tanks, 3,000 guns and 3,700 aircraft. For courage and heroism, over 100 thousand Soviet soldiers - participants in the Battle of the Fiery Arc, were awarded orders and medals.

The Battle of Kursk ended with a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War.

Battle of Stalingrad

Battle of Stalingrad divided into two periods. These are defensive operations and offensive operations.
Stalingrad was a major communications hub connecting the central regions of the country with the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Defensive battles on the outskirts of Stalingrad lasted 57 days and nights. On July 28, the people's commissar of defense issued order No. 000, better known as "Not a step back!".
August 19 became black date of the Battle of Stalingrad- The Germans broke through to the Volga. On August 23, Stalingrad was subjected to the most severe bombardment by German aircraft. Several hundred aircraft struck industrial and residential areas, turning them into ruins.

The Soviet command developed the plan "Uranus" to defeat the Nazis near Stalingrad. It consisted in cutting off the enemy strike group from the main forces with powerful flank strikes and, having surrounded it, destroyed it. On November 19 and 20, the troops of the Soviet army brought down tons of fiery metal on the positions of the Germans. After breaking through the enemy defenses, the troops began to develop the offensive.
On January 10, 1943, Soviet troops launched Operation Koltso. The Battle of Stalingrad entered its final phase. Pressed against the Volga and cut into two parts, the enemy grouping was forced to surrender.

victory in Battle of Stalingrad marked a turning point in World War II. After Stalingrad, the period of expulsion of the German occupiers from the territory of the USSR began.

Red Army victories 1943 years meant a radical change not only on the Soviet-German front, but in general in the Second World War. They intensified the contradictions in the camp of Germany's allies. 25 July 1943 in Italy, the fascist government of B. Mussolini fell, and the new leadership, headed by General P. Badoglio, announced 13 October 1943 d. war in Germany. The resistance movement intensified in the occupied countries. IN 1943 fought against the enemy 300 thousand partisans of France, 300 thousand - Yugoslavia, over 70 thousand - Greece, 100 thousand - Italy, 50 thousand - Norway, as well as partisan detachments of other countries. In total, 2.2 million people participated in the resistance movement.
The meetings of the leaders of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain contributed to the coordination of the actions of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. The first of the Big Three conferences was held 28 november - 1 December 1943 in Tehran. The main questions were military - about the second front in Europe. It was decided that no later than 1 May 1944 Anglo-American troops will land in France. A declaration was adopted on joint actions in the war against Germany and on post-war cooperation, and the question of Poland's post-war borders was considered. The USSR undertook an obligation after the end of the war with Germany to enter the war against Japan.
WITH January 1944 The third and final stage of the Great Patriotic War began. By this time, the Nazi troops continued to occupy Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Karelia, a significant part of Belarus, Ukraine, the Leningrad and Kalinin regions, Moldova and the Crimea. The Hitlerite command kept in the East the main, most combat-ready troops numbering about 5 million people. Germany still had significant resources to wage war, although its economy had entered a period of serious difficulties.
However, the general military-political situation, in comparison with the first years of the war, changed radically in favor of the USSR and its Armed Forces. Back to top 1944 in the active army of the USSR there were more than 6.3 million people. The production of steel, cast iron, coal and oil production increased rapidly, and the development of the country's eastern regions took place. Defense industry in 1944 produced tanks and aircraft in 5 times more than in 1941 G.
The Soviet Army was faced with the task of completing the liberation of its territory, assisting the peoples of Europe in overthrowing the fascist yoke, and ending the war with the complete defeat of the enemy on his territory. Features of offensive operations 1944 The main purpose of the attack was to deliver pre-planned powerful strikes to the enemy in various directions of the Soviet-German front, forcing him to disperse his forces and hindering the organization of an effective defense.
IN 1944 The Red Army inflicted a series of crushing blows on the German troops, which led to the complete liberation of the Soviet land from the fascist invaders. Among the largest operations are the following:

January-February - near Leningrad and Novgorod. Was filmed lasting from 8 September 1941 900-day blockade of Leningrad (during the blockade in the city, more than 640 thousand inhabitants; food standard in 1941 was 250 g of bread per day for workers and 125 d for the rest);
february-mart - liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine;
aprilmay - liberation of the Crimea;
June August - Belarusian operation;
July-August - liberation of Western Ukraine;
Start august- YassoKishinevskaya operation;
October - the liberation of the Arctic.
By December 1944 All Soviet territory was liberated. 7 november 1944 The order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief No. 220 was printed in the Pravda newspaper: “The Soviet state border,” it said, “is restored all the way from the Black Sea to the Barents Sea” (for the first time during the war, Soviet troops reached the state border of the USSR 26 Martha 1944 on the border with Romania). All the allies of Germany left the war - Romania, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary. The Hitler coalition completely disintegrated. And the number of countries that were at war with Germany was constantly increasing. 22 June 1941 there were 14 of them, and in May 1945 city ​​- 53.

The successes of the Red Army did not mean that the enemy had ceased to pose a serious military threat. An army of almost five million opposed the USSR at the beginning 1944 d. But the Red Army outnumbered the Wehrmacht both in numbers and in firepower. Back to top 1944 g. she totaled more than 6 million soldiers and officers, had 90 thousand guns and mortars (the Germans have about 55 thousand), an approximately equal number of tanks and self-propelled guns and an advantage in 5 thousand aircraft.
The opening of a second front also contributed to the successful course of hostilities. 6 June 1944 Anglo-American troops landed in France. However, the Soviet-German front remained the main one. In June 1944 Germany had on its Eastern Front 259 divisions, and in the West - 81. Paying tribute to all the peoples of the planet who fought against fascism, it should be noted that it was the Soviet Union that was the main force that blocked A. Hitler's path to world domination. The Soviet-German front was the main front where the fate of mankind was decided. Its length ranged from 3000 to 6000 km, it existed 1418 days. Until the summer 1944 G. -
Liberation of the territory of the USSR by the Red Army
,Mupei states 267
the time of the opening of the second front in Europe - 9295% of the ground forces of Germany and its allies operated here, and then from 74 up to 65%.
Having liberated the USSR, the Red Army, pursuing the retreating enemy, entered into 1944 to the territory of foreign countries. She fought in 13 European and Asian states. More than a million Soviet soldiers gave their lives for their liberation from fascism.
IN 1945 The offensive operations of the Red Army took on an even larger scale. The troops launched a final offensive along the entire front from the Baltic to the Carpathians, which was planned for the end of January. But due to the fact that the Anglo-American army in the Ardennes (Belgium) was on the verge of disaster, the Soviet leadership decided to start hostilities ahead of schedule.
The main blows were inflicted on the Warsaw-Berlin direction. Overcoming desperate resistance, the Soviet troops completely liberated Poland, defeated the main forces of the Nazis in East Prussia and Pomerania. At the same time, strikes were inflicted on the territory of Slovakia, Hungary and Austria.
In connection with the approach of the final defeat of Germany, the questions of joint actions of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition at the final stage of the war and in peacetime arose sharply. In February 1945 In Yalta, the second conference of the heads of government of the USSR, the USA and England took place. The conditions for the unconditional surrender of Germany were worked out, as well as measures to eradicate Nazism and turn Germany into a democratic state. These principles are known as "4 D" - democratization, demilitarization, denazification and decartelization. The Allies also agreed on the general principles for resolving the reparation issue, that is, on the amount and procedure for compensating the damage caused by Germany to other countries (the total amount of reparations was established in 20 billion US dollars, of which the USSR was to receive half). An agreement was reached on the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan through 23 months after the surrender of Germany and the return of the Kuril Islands and the southern part of Sakhalin Island to him. In order to maintain peace and security, it was decided to create an international organization - the UN. Its founding conference was held 25 April 1945 in San Francisco.
One of the largest and most significant at the final stage of the war was the Berlin operation. The offensive has begun 16 April. 25 April all roads leading from the city to the west were cut. On the same day, units of the 1st Ukrainian Front met with American troops near the city of Torgau on the Elbe. 30 April The assault on the Reichstag began. 2 May The Berlin garrison capitulated. 8 May- capitulation was signed.
In the last days of the war, the Red Army had to fight stubborn battles in Czechoslovakia. 5 May an armed uprising against the invaders began in Prague. 9 May Soviet troops liberated Prague.