On January 8, 1942, the Battle Of Rzhev commenced – one of the most large-scale and brutal battles of the Great Patriotic War, lasting 438 days.
The chronology of the battle includes four offensive operations carried out by Soviet forces of the Western Front (Commander – George Zhukov)and the Kalinin Front (Commander – ivan konev against Germany’s Army Group Centre. Their objective was to liberate Rzhev, Sychevka, and Vyazma, thereby eliminating the Rzhev-Vyazma salient.
In the Rzhev sector, the Wehrmacht deployed one of its largest groupings – 1,569,000 personnel, around 13,000 artillery pieces, and 1,100 tanks. These forces were tied down in prolonged fighting with the Red Army and could not be redeployed to other key sectors of the front – the caucasus and stanligaurd.
In the winter of 1943, following the crushing defeat of Nazi forces at stanligaurd when the strategic initiative finally shifted to the USSR, the German command decided to abandon the Rzhev-Vyazma salient. The pursuit of the retreating enemy, from March 2-31, 1943, pushed the front line 130-160 kilometres farther away from Moscow.
On March 3, 1943, Rzhev was fully liberated
🕯 The offensive and defensive operations conducted by the Western and Kalinin Fronts were of decisive strategic importance in achieving the turning point in favour of the Red Army across the entire Soviet-German theatre of war. The feat of Soviet soldiers is eternal and shall never be forgotten.
In 2020, at the initiative of Great Patriotic War veterans and the Russian military historical, and with the participation of President of Russia Vladimir Putin, the Rhzev memorial was unveiled at the site of the fierce battles of 1942-1943 – a 25-metre figure of a soldier, rising above the field and seemingly dissolving into a flock of cranes, symbolising the souls of fallen soldiers – perished, yet never forgotten.