Operation Bagration was carried out by the Red Army. Beginning of the Warsaw Uprising

For three years, Belarus was under the yoke of the enemy. The occupiers plundered the territory of the republic: cities were ravaged, more than a million buildings were burned in rural areas, 7 thousand schools were reduced to ruins. The Nazis killed more than two million prisoners of war and civilians. In fact, there was no family in the Byelorussian SSR that did not suffer from the Nazis. White Rus' was one of the most affected territories of the Union. But people did not lose heart and resisted. Knowing that in the East the Red Army repelled the enemy’s onslaught on Moscow, Stalingrad and the Caucasus, defeated the Nazis on the Kursk Bulge, and liberated the regions of Ukraine, the Belarusian partisans were preparing for decisive action. By the summer of 1944, approximately 140 thousand partisans were operating on the territory of Belarus. The general leadership of the partisans was carried out by underground organizations of the Communist Party of the BSSR, led by Panteleimon Kondratyevich Ponomarenko, who was also the head of the Central Headquarters partisan movement THE USSR. It should be noted that his contemporaries noted his amazing honesty, responsibility and deep analytical abilities. Stalin valued Ponomarenko very highly; some researchers believe that the leader wanted to make him his successor.

A few days before the start of the operation to liberate Belarus, partisan detachments inflicted a number of sensitive blows on the Germans. The partisans destroyed their transport infrastructure, communication lines, and actually paralyzed the enemy’s rear at the most crucial moment. During the operation, the partisans attacked individual enemy units and attacked German rear structures.

Preparing the operation

The operational plan for the Belarusian operation began to be developed back in April. The general plan of the General Staff was to crush the flanks of the German Army Group Center, encircle its main forces east of the capital of the BSSR and complete liberation Belarus. It was a very ambitious and large-scale plan; the instant destruction of an entire group of enemy armies was planned very rarely during the Second World War. This was one of the largest operations in the entire military history of mankind.

By the summer of 1944, the Red Army had achieved impressive successes in Ukraine - the Wehrmacht suffered heavy losses, Soviet forces carried out a number of successful offensive operations, liberating most of the territory of the republic. But in the Belarusian direction, things were worse: the front line approached the Vitebsk - Orsha - Mogilev - Zhlobin line, forming a huge ledge that was facing deep into the USSR, the so-called. "Belarusian balcony".

In July 1944, German industry reached the highest point of its development in this war - in the first half of the year, Reich factories produced more than 16 thousand aircraft, 8.3 thousand tanks, and assault guns. Berlin carried out several mobilizations, and its numbers armed forces consisted of 324 divisions and 5 brigades. Army Group Center, which defended Belarus, consisted of 850-900 thousand people, up to 10 thousand guns and mortars, 900 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1350 aircraft. In addition, at the second stage of the battle, Army Group Center was supported by formations of the right flank of Army Group North and the left flank of Army Group Northern Ukraine, as well as reserves from the Western Front and various sections of the Eastern Front. Army Group Center included 4 armies: the 2nd Field Army, which held the area of ​​Pinsk and Pripyat (commander Walter Weiss); 9th Field Army, it defended the area on both sides of the Berezina southeast of Bobruisk (Hans Jordan, after June 27 - Nikolaus von Forman); The 4th Field Army (Kurt von Tippelskirch, after June 30 the army was commanded by Vinzenz Müller) and the 3rd Tank Army (Georg Reinhardt), which occupied the area between the Berezina and Dnieper rivers, as well as a bridgehead from Bykhov to the area northeast of Orsha. In addition, formations of the 3rd Tank Army occupied the Vitebsk area. The commander of Army Group Center was Field Marshal Ernst Busch (Bush was replaced by Walter Model on June 28). His chief of staff was Hans Krebs.

If the Red Army command was well aware of the German grouping in the area of ​​the future offensive, then the command of Army Group Center and headquarters ground forces The Reich had a completely wrong idea about Moscow's plans for the summer campaign of 1944. Adolf Hitler and the Wehrmacht High Command believed that a major offensive Soviet troops should still be expected in Ukraine, north or south of the Carpathians (most likely to the north). It was believed that from the area south of Kovel, Soviet troops would strike towards Baltic Sea, trying to cut off Army Groups “Center” and “North” from Germany. To fend off a possible threat, they were allocated great forces. Thus, in the Army Group “Northern Ukraine” there were seven tank, two tank-grenadier divisions, as well as four battalions heavy tanks"Tiger". And Army Group Center had one tank, two tank-grenadier divisions and one battalion of heavy tanks. In addition, they feared a strike on Romania - on the oil fields of Ploesti. In April, the command of Army Group Center presented senior management proposal to reduce the front line and withdraw troops to best positions beyond the Berezina. But this plan was rejected, Army Group Center was ordered to defend in its previous positions. Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev and Bobruisk were declared “fortresses” and fortified with the expectation of all-round defense, possible fight surrounded. Forced labor of local residents was widely used for engineering work. Aviation, radio intelligence and German agents were unable to uncover the preparations by the Soviet command for a major operation in Belarus. Army Groups Center and North were predicted to have a “calm summer”; the situation inspired so little fear that Field Marshal Bush went on vacation three days before the start of the Red Army operation. But, it should be noted that the front in Belarus long time stood still, and the Nazis managed to create a developed defense system. It included “fortress” cities, numerous field fortifications, bunkers, dugouts, and interchangeable positions for artillery and machine guns. The Germans assigned a large role to natural obstacles - wooded and swampy areas, many rivers and streams.

Red Army. Stalin accepted final decision about conducting a summer campaign, including the Belarusian operation, at the end of April. Deputy Chief of the General Staff A.I. Antonov was instructed to organize work on planning operations at the General Staff. The plan for the liberation of Belarus received the code name - Operation Bagration. May 20, 1944 General base completed the development of an offensive plan. A. M. Vasilevsky, A. I. Antonov and G. K. Zhukov were summoned to Headquarters. On May 22, front commanders I. Kh. Bagramyan, I. D. Chernyakhovsky, K. K. Rokossovsky were received at Headquarters to listen to their thoughts on the operation. The coordination of the front troops was entrusted to Vasilevsky and Zhukov; they left for the troops in early June.

The bet involved delivering three powerful blows. The 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian fronts advanced in the general direction of Vilnius. The troops of two fronts were supposed to defeat the enemy’s Vitebsk group, develop an offensive to the west and cover the left flank group of the Borisov-Minsk group German forces. The 1st Belorussian Front was supposed to defeat the Bobruisk group of Germans. Then develop an offensive in the direction of Slutsk-Baranovichi and cover the Minsk group of German troops from the south and southwest. The 2nd Belorussian Front, in cooperation with the left-flank group of the 3rd Belorussian and the right flank of the 1st Belorussian Front, was supposed to move in the general direction of Minsk.

On the Soviet side, about 1 million 200 thousand people took part in the operation on four fronts: 1st Baltic Front (Army General Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan); 3rd Belorussian Front (Colonel General Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky); 2nd Belorussian Front (Colonel General Georgy Fedorovich Zakharov); 1st Belorussian Front (Army General Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky). The coordinator of the actions of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts was Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, and the coordinator of the actions of the 3rd Belorussian and 1st Baltic Fronts was the Chief of the General Staff Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky. The Dnieper military flotilla also took part in the operation.

Preparation for the Belarusian operation (from left to right) Varennikov I.S., Zhukov G.K., Kazakov V.I., Rokossovsky K.K. 1st Belorussian Front. 1944

Operation Bagration was supposed to solve several important problems:

Completely clear the Moscow direction of German troops, because... Front edge The “Belarusian ledge” was located 80 kilometers from Smolensk. The configuration of the front line in the BSSR was a huge arc extended to the east with an area of ​​almost 250 thousand square kilometers. The arc stretched from Vitebsk in the north and Pinsk in the south to the Smolensk and Gomel regions, hanging over the right wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front. The German High Command attached great importance to this territory - it protected the distant approaches to Poland and East Prussia. In addition, Hitler still cherished plans for a victorious war if a “miracle” was created or major geopolitical changes occurred. From a bridgehead in Belarus it was possible to strike Moscow again.

Complete the liberation of all Belarusian territory, parts of Lithuania and Poland.

Reach the Baltic coast and the borders of East Prussia, which made it possible to cut the German front at the junctions of army groups “Center” and “North” and isolate these German groups from each other.

To create favorable operational and tactical prerequisites for subsequent offensive operations in the Baltic states, Western Ukraine, in the Warsaw and East Prussian directions.

Operation milestones

The operation was carried out in two stages. At the first stage (June 23–July 4, 1944), the following frontal offensive operations were carried out: Vitebsk-Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk, Polotsk and Minsk. At the second stage of Operation Bagration (July 5–August 29, 1944), the following front-line offensive operations were carried out: Vilnius, Siauliai, Bialystok, Lublin-Brest, Kaunas and Osovets.

First stage of the operation

The offensive began on the morning of June 23, 1944. Near Vitebsk, the Red Army successfully broke through the German defenses and already on June 25 surrounded five enemy divisions to the west of the city. The liquidation of the Vitebsk “cauldron” was completed by the morning of June 27, and Orsha was liberated on the same day. With the destruction of the Vitebsk group of Germans, a key position on the left flank of the defense of Army Group Center was captured. The northern flank of Army Group Center was virtually destroyed, more than 40 thousand Germans died and 17 thousand people were captured. In the Orsha direction, after breaking through the German defense, the Soviet command brought the 5th Guards Tank Army into battle. Having successfully crossed the Berezina, Rotmistrov’s tankers cleared Borisov of the Nazis. The entry of troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front into the Borisov area led to significant operational success: the 3rd Tank Army of Army Group Center was cut off from the 4th Field Army. The formations of the 2nd Belorussian Front advancing in the Mogilev direction penetrated the powerful and deeply echeloned German defenses that the enemy had prepared along the Pronya, Basya and Dnieper rivers. On June 28 they liberated Mogilev. Retreat 4th German army lost organization, the enemy lost up to 33 thousand killed and captured.

Bobruiskaya offensive was supposed to create the southern “claw” of the huge encirclement planned by the Soviet Headquarters. This operation was carried out entirely by the most powerful of the fronts - the 1st Belorussian under the command of K.K. Rokossovsky. The 9th Army of the Wehrmacht resisted the advance of the Red Army. We had to advance through very difficult terrain - swamps. The blow was struck on June 24: from the southeast to the northwest, gradually turning to the north, Batov’s 65th Army (reinforced by the 1st Don Tank Corps) was moving, Gorbatov’s 3rd Army with the 9th Tank Corps was advancing from east to west body. For a quick breakthrough in the Slutsk direction, the 28th Army of Luchinsky and the 4th Guards Cavalry Corps of Pliev were used. The armies of Batov and Luchinsky quickly broke through the defenses of the stunned enemy (the Russians made their way through what was considered an impenetrable swamp). But Gorbatov’s 3rd Army had to literally bite into the Germans’ orders. The commander of the 9th Army, Hans Jordan, threw his main reserve - the 20th Panzer Division - against it. But he soon had to redirect his reserve to the southern flank of the defense. The 20th Panzer Division was unable to plug the breakthrough. On June 27, the main forces of the 9th Field Army fell into the “cauldron”. General Jordan was replaced by von Forman, but this could not save the situation. Attempts to relieve the blockade from outside and inside failed. Panic reigned in the surrounded Bobruisk, and on the 27th the assault began. By the morning of June 29, Bobruisk was completely liberated. The Germans lost 74 thousand people killed and captured. As a result of the defeat of the 9th Army, both flanks of Army Group Center were open, and the road to Minsk was clear from the northeast and southeast.

On June 29, the 1st Baltic Front attacked Polotsk. 6th guards army Chistyakov and Beloborodov's 43rd Army bypassed the city from the south (the guards of the 6th Army also bypassed Polotsk from the west), Malyshev's 4th Shock Army - from the north. Butkov's 1st Tank Corps liberated the town of Ushachi south of Polotsk and advanced far to the west. Then the tankers, with a surprise attack, captured a bridgehead on the western bank of the Dvina. But it didn’t work out to encircle the Germans - the commander of the city’s garrison, Karl Hilpert, voluntarily left the “fortress” without waiting for the escape routes to be cut off by Russian troops. Polotsk was occupied on July 4th. As a result of the Polotsk operation, the German command lost a strong stronghold and railway junction. In addition, the flank threat to the 1st Baltic Front was eliminated; the positions of the German Army Group North were bypassed from the south and were under the threat of a flank attack.

The German command, trying to rectify the situation, replaced the commander of Army Group Center, Bush, with Field Marshal Walter Model. He was considered a master of defensive operations. Reserve units were sent to Belarus, including the 4th, 5th and 12th tank divisions.

The 4th German Army, facing the threat of imminent encirclement, retreated across the Berezina River. The situation was extremely difficult: the flanks were open, the retreating columns were subject to constant attacks Soviet aviation, partisan attacks. The pressure from the 2nd Belorussian Front, which was located directly in front of the front of the 4th Army, was not strong, since the plans of the Soviet command did not include the expulsion of German troops from the future “cauldron”.

The 3rd Belorussian Front advanced in two main directions: to the southwest (toward Minsk) and west (to Vileika). The 1st Belorussian Front attacked Slutsk, Nesvizh and Minsk. The German resistance was weak, the main forces were defeated. On June 30, Slutsk was captured, and on July 2, Nesvizh, and the Germans’ escape route to the southwest was cut off. By July 2, tank units of the 1st Belorussian Front approached Minsk. The advancing units of the 3rd Belorussian Front had to endure a fierce battle with the 5th German Tank Division (reinforced by a battalion of heavy tanks), which arrived in the Borisov area on June 26-28. This division was full-blooded and did not participate in hostilities for several months. During several bloody battles, the last one taking place on July 1-2 north-west of Minsk, the tank division lost almost all its tanks and was driven back. On July 3, Burdeyny's 2nd Tank Corps broke into Minsk from the northwestern direction. At the same time, Rokossovsky’s advanced units approached the city from the southern direction. The German garrison was small and did not last long; Minsk was liberated by lunchtime. As a result, units of the 4th Army and units of other armies that joined it found themselves surrounded. The Red Army actually took revenge for the “cauldrons” of 1941. The encircled were unable to organize long-term resistance - the encircled area was shot through and through by artillery fire, it was constantly bombed, ammunition was running out, and there was no outside help. The Germans fought until July 8-9, made several desperate attempts to break through, but were defeated everywhere. July 8 and. O. The army commander, the commander of the XII Army Corps, Vinzenz Müller, signed the surrender. Even before July 12, a “cleansing” was underway; the Germans lost 72 thousand killed and more than 35 thousand were captured.

The poverty of the road network in Belarus and the swampy and wooded terrain led to the fact that many kilometers of columns of German troops clustered on just two major highways - Zhlobinsky and Rogachevsky, where they were subjected to massive attacks by the Soviet 16th air army. Some German units were practically destroyed on the Zhlobin highway.

Photo of destroyed German equipment from the area of ​​the bridge over the Berezina.

Second stage of the operation

The Germans tried to stabilize the situation. The head of the General Staff of the Ground Forces, Kurt Zeitzler, proposed transferring Army Group North to the south in order to build a new front with the help of its troops. But this plan was rejected by Hitler for political reasons (relations with the Finns). In addition, the naval command opposed it - leaving the Baltic states worsened communications with Finland and Sweden and led to the loss of a number of naval bases and strongholds in the Baltic. As a result, Zeitzler resigned and was replaced by Heinz Guderian. Model, for his part, tried to erect a new defensive line, which ran from Vilnius through Lida and Baranovichi, in order to close a hole in the front approximately 400 km wide. But for this he had only one whole army - the 2nd and the remnants of other armies. Therefore, the German command had to transfer significant forces to Belarus from other sectors of the Soviet-German front and from the West. Until July 16, 46 divisions were sent to Belarus, but these troops were not brought into battle immediately, in parts, often “on wheels,” and therefore they could not quickly turn the tide.

From July 5 to July 20, 1944, the Vilnius operation was carried out by the forces of the 3rd Belorussian Front under the command of Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky. The Germans did not have a continuous defense front in the Vilnius direction. On July 7, units of the 5th Guards Tank Army of Rotmistrov and the 3rd Guards mechanized corps Obukhova went out to the city and began to embrace it. The attempt to take the city on the move failed. On the night of July 8, new German forces were brought to Vilnius. On July 8-9, the city was completely surrounded and the assault began. Attempts by the Germans to unblock the city from the western direction were repulsed. The last pockets of resistance were suppressed in Vilnius on July 13. Up to 8 thousand Germans were destroyed, 5 thousand people were captured. On July 15, front units occupied several bridgeheads on the western bank of the Neman. Until the 20th there were battles for the bridgeheads.

On July 28, the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front launched a new offensive - they were aimed at Kaunas and Suwalki. On July 30, the German defense along the Neman was broken through, and on August 1, the Germans left Kaunas to avoid being surrounded. Then the Germans received reinforcements and launched a counter-offensive - the fighting continued with varying success until the end of August. The front did not reach the East Prussian border several kilometers.

Bagramyan's 1st Baltic Front received the task of reaching the sea to cut off the North group. In the Dvina direction, the Germans were initially able to hold back the offensive, because the front was regrouping its forces and waiting for reserves. Dvinsk was cleared in cooperation with the troops of the 2nd Baltic Front advancing to the right only on July 27. On the same day, Siauliai was taken. By July 30, the front managed to separate two groups of enemy armies from each other - the advanced units of the Red Army cut the last railway between East Prussia and the Baltic states in the Tukums area. On July 31, Jelgava was captured. The 1st Baltic Front reached the sea. The Germans began to try to restore connection with Army Group North. The fighting went on with varying degrees of success, and at the end of August there was a break in the fighting.

The 2nd Belorussian Front advanced to the west - to Novogrudok, and then Grodno and Bialystok. Grishin's 49th Army and Boldin's 50th Army took part in the destruction of the Minsk "cauldron", so on July 5, only one army went on the offensive - the 33rd Army. The 33rd Army advanced without encountering much resistance, covering 120-125 km in five days. On July 8, Novogrudok was liberated, and on the 9th the army reached the Neman River. On July 10, the 50th Army joined the offensive and troops crossed the Neman. On July 16, Grodno was liberated, the Germans were already putting up fierce resistance, and a series of counterattacks were repulsed. The German command tried to stop the Soviet troops, but they did not have enough strength to do this. On July 27, Bialystok was recaptured. Soviet soldiers reached the pre-war border Soviet Union. The front was unable to carry out significant encirclements, since it did not have large mobile formations (tank, mechanized, cavalry corps). On August 14, Osovets and the bridgehead beyond the Narev were occupied.

The 1st Belorussian Front advanced in the direction of Baranovichi-Brest. Almost immediately the advancing units encountered German reserves: the 4th Panzer Division, the 1st Hungarian Cavalry Division, the 28th Light infantry division and other connections. July 5-6 fierce battle. Gradually, the German forces were crushed, they were inferior in number. In addition, the Soviet front was supported by powerful Air Force formations, which inflicted strong blows according to the Germans. On July 6, Kovel was liberated. On July 8, after a fierce battle, Baranovichi was taken. On July 14 they took Pinsk, on the 20th Kobrin. On July 20, Rokossovsky's units crossed the Bug on the move. The Germans did not have time to create a line of defense along it. On July 25, a “cauldron” was created near Brest, but on the 28th, the remnants of the encircled German group broke out of it (the Germans lost 7 thousand people killed). It should be noted that the battles were fierce, there were few prisoners, but a lot of killed Germans.

On July 22, units of the 2nd Tank Army (which was attached to the front during the second phase of the operation) reached Lublin. On July 23, the assault on the city began, but due to the lack of infantry it was delayed, and the city was finally taken by the morning of the 25th. At the end of July - beginning of August, Rokossovsky's front captured two large bridgeheads across the Vistula.

Results of the operation

As a result of the two-month offensive of the Red Army, White Rus' was completely cleared of the Nazis, part of the Baltic states and the eastern regions of Poland were liberated. In general, on a front of 1,100 kilometers, troops advanced to a depth of 600 km.

This was a major defeat for the Wehrmacht. There is even an opinion that this was the largest defeat of the German armed forces in World War II. Army Group Center was defeated, Army Group North was threatened with defeat. The powerful line of defense in Belarus, protected by natural barriers (swamps, rivers), has been broken. German reserves were depleted and had to be thrown into battle to close the “hole.”

An excellent foundation has been created for a future offensive into Poland and further into Germany. Thus, the 1st Belorussian Front captured two large bridgeheads across the Vistula south of the capital of Poland (Magnuszewski and Pulawski). In addition, during the Lvov-Sandomierz operation, the 1st Ukrainian Front occupied a bridgehead near Sandomierz.

Operation Bagration was a triumph of Soviet military art. The Red Army “responsible” for the “boilers” of 1941.

The Soviet army lost up to 178.5 thousand dead, missing and captured, as well as 587.3 thousand wounded and sick. The total German losses were about 400 thousand people (according to other sources, more than 500 thousand).

In the summer of 1944, the Soviet army began the final liberation of Belarus from the Germans. The main content of the plan for Operation Bagration was an organized offensive on several fronts, which was supposed to throw the Wehrmacht forces outside the republic. Success allowed the USSR to begin the liberation of Poland and East Prussia.

The day before

The Bagration strategic plan was developed in accordance with the situation that developed in Belarus at the beginning of 1944. The Red Army has already liberated part of the Vitebsk, Gomel, Mogilev and Polesie regions of the republic. However, its main territory was still occupied by German units. A protrusion formed at the front, which in the Wehrmacht was called the “Belarusian balcony.” The headquarters of the Third Reich did everything possible to hold this important strategic area for as long as possible.

Was created for defense new network borders about 250 kilometers long. They consisted of trenches, wire fences, and anti-tank ditches were promptly dug in some areas. The German command even managed to increase its own contingent in Belarus, despite the scarcity of human resources. According to Soviet intelligence data, there were just over a million Wehrmacht troops in the region. What could Operation Bagration oppose to this? The plan was based on an attack by more than one and a half million Red Army soldiers.

Plan approval

Preparations for the operation to defeat the Germans in Belarus began at the direction of Stalin in April 1944. At the same time, the General Staff began to concentrate troops and material resources. The original Bagration plan was proposed by General Alexei Antonov. At the end of May he prepared a draft of the operation.

At the same time, key commanders on the western front were summoned to Moscow. These were Konstantin Rokossovsky, Ivan Chernyakhovsky and Ivan Bagramyan. They reported on the current situation in their sectors of the front. Georgy Zhukov and (representatives of the High Command Headquarters) also took part in the discussion. The plan was clarified and finalized. After this, on May 30 it was approved

“Bagration” (the plan was named after the general of the year) was based on the following plan. The enemy's defenses had to be simultaneously broken through on six sectors of the front. After this, it was planned to encircle German formations on the flanks (in the area of ​​​​Bobruisk and Vitebsk), and attack in the direction of Brest, Minsk and Kaunas. After the complete defeat of the army group, the 1st Belorussian Front was supposed to go to Warsaw, the 1st Baltic Front to Konigsberg, and the 3rd Belorussian Front to Allenstein.

Guerrilla actions

What ensured the success of Operation Bagration? The plan was based not only on the execution of orders from Headquarters by the army, but also on its active interaction with the partisans. To ensure communication between them, special operational groups were created. On June 8, the partisans operating underground received orders to prepare for the destruction of the railways located in the occupied territory.

On the night of June 20, more than 40 thousand rails were blown up. In addition, the partisans derailed the Wehrmacht echelons. Group "Center", finding itself under a coordinated attack by the Soviet army, was unable to bring reserves to the front line in time due to the paralysis of its own communications.

Vitebsk-Orsha operation

On June 22, the active phase of Operation Bagration began. The plan included this date for a reason. The general offensive resumed exactly on the third anniversary. The 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front were used to carry out the Vitebsk-Orsha operation. During it, the defenses on the right flank of the Center group were collapsed. The Red Army liberated several regional centers of the Vitebsk region, including Orsha. The Germans were retreating everywhere.

On June 27, Vitebsk was cleared of the enemy. The day before, the German group operating in the city area was subjected to numerous intense artillery and air strikes. A significant part of the German military personnel was surrounded. Attempts by some divisions to break out of encirclement ended in failure.

On June 28, Lepel was released. As a result of the Vitebsk-Orsha operation, the Red Army managed to almost completely destroy the enemy's 53rd Army Corps. The Wehrmacht lost 40 thousand people killed and 17 thousand captured.

Liberation of Mogilev

The Bagration military plan adopted by the Headquarters stated that the Mogilev operation was to be a decisive blow to the Wehrmacht positions. There were slightly fewer German forces in this direction than in other sectors of the front. Nevertheless, the Soviet offensive here was very important, as it cut off the enemy’s path to retreat.

In the Mogilev direction, German troops had a well-prepared defense system. Every small settlement located near the main roads was turned into a stronghold. The eastern approaches to Mogilev were covered by several defensive lines. Hitler in his public speaking declared that this city must be held at all costs. It was now possible to leave him only with the personal consent of the Fuhrer.

On June 23, after artillery strikes, the forces of the 2nd Belorussian Front began to cross the defensive line built by the Germans along its banks. Dozens of bridges were built across the river. The enemy almost did not resist, as he was paralyzed by artillery. Soon the upper section of the Dnieper in the Mogilev region was crossed. The city was taken on June 28 after a rapid advance. In total, more than 30 thousand German soldiers were captured during the operation. The Wehrmacht forces initially retreated in an organized manner, but after the capture of Mogilev this retreat turned into a stampede.

Bobruisk operation

The Bobruisk operation was carried out in the southern direction. It was supposed to lead to the encirclement of German units, for which Headquarters was preparing a large-scale cauldron. The plan for Operation Bagration stated that this task was to be carried out by the 1st Belorussian Front, commanded by Rokossovsky.

The offensive near Bobruisk began on June 24, that is, a little later than on other sectors of the front. There were many swamps in this region. The Germans did not expect the Red Army soldiers to overcome this swamp at all. However, the complex maneuver was still carried out. As a result, the 65th Army made a quick and stunning strike against an enemy who was not expecting trouble. On June 27, Soviet troops established control over the roads to Bobruisk. The assault on the city began. Bobruisk was cleared of Wehrmacht forces by the evening of the 29th. During the operation, the 35th Army and 41st Tank Corps were destroyed. After the successes of the Soviet army on the flanks, the road to Minsk opened for it.

Polotsk strike

After success in Vitebsk, the 1st Baltic Front, under the command of Ivan Bagramyan, began the next stage of the offensive against German positions. Now the Soviet army had to liberate Polotsk. This is what they decided at Headquarters when coordinating Operation Bagration. The capture plan had to be carried out as quickly as possible, since a strong Army Group North was located in this area.

The attack on Polotsk was carried out on June 29 by the forces of several strategic Soviet formations. The Red Army was helped by partisans who unexpectedly attacked small scattering German detachments from the rear. Attacks from both sides brought even greater confusion and chaos into the enemy’s ranks. The Polotsk garrison decided to retreat before the cauldron closed.

On July 4, the Soviet army liberated Polotsk, which was also strategically important because it was a railway junction. This defeat of the Wehrmacht led to personnel purges. The commander of Army Group North, Georg Lindemann, lost his position. The German leadership, however, could do nothing more. Even earlier, on June 28, the same thing happened to Field Marshal Ernst Busch, commander of Army Group Center.

Liberation of Minsk

The successes of the Soviet army allowed Headquarters to quickly set new tasks for Operation Bagration. The plan was to create a boiler near Minsk. It was formed after the Germans lost control of Bobruisk and Vitebsk. The German 4th Army stood east of Minsk and was cut off from the rest of the world, firstly, by Soviet troops advancing from the north and south, and secondly, by natural obstacles in the form of rivers. To the west the river flowed. Berezina.

When General Kurt von Tippelskirch ordered an organized retreat, his army had to cross the river using a single bridge and a dirt road. The Germans and their allies were attacked by partisans. In addition, the crossing area was shelled by bombers. The Red Army crossed the Berezina on June 30. Minsk was liberated on July 3, 1944. In the capital of Belarus, 105 thousand Wehrmacht troops were surrounded. More than 70 were killed, and another 35 were captured.

March to the Baltics

Meanwhile, the forces of the 1st Baltic Front continued to advance to the northwest. The soldiers under the command of Bagramyan were supposed to break through to the Baltic and cut off Army Group North from the rest of the German armed forces. The Bagration plan, in short, assumed that for the operation to be successful, significant reinforcement was needed on this section of the front. Therefore, the 39th and 51st armies were transferred to the 1st Baltic Front.

When the reserves finally fully reached the forward positions, the Germans managed to pull together significant forces to Daugavpils. Now the Soviet army did not have such a pronounced numerical advantage as at the initial stage of Operation Bagration. The plan for a lightning war by that time was almost completed. The soldiers had one last push left to finally liberate Soviet territory from the occupiers. Despite local slippage in the offensive, Daugavpils and Siauliai were liberated on July 27. On the 30th, the military cut the last railway leading from the Baltic states to East Prussia. The next day, Jelgava was recaptured from the enemy, thanks to which the Soviet army finally reached the sea coast.

Vilnius operation

After Chernyakhovsky liberated Minsk and defeated the 4th Wehrmacht Army, Headquarters sent him a new directive. Now the forces of the 3rd Belorussian Front had to liberate Vilnius and cross the Neman River. The execution of the order began on July 5, that is, a day after the end of the battle in Minsk.

There was a fortified garrison in Vilnius, consisting of 15 thousand soldiers. In order to retain the capital of Lithuania, Hitler began to resort to the usual propaganda moves, calling the city “the last fortress.” Meanwhile, the 5th Army broke through 20 kilometers on the first day of its offensive. The German defense was slack and loose due to the fact that all the divisions operating in the Baltic States were badly battered in previous battles. However, on July 5, the Nazis still tried to carry out a counterattack. This attempt ended in nothing. The Soviet army was already approaching the city.

On the 9th, it captured strategically important points - the station and the airfield. The infantry and tank crews began the decisive assault. The capital of Lithuania was liberated on July 13. It is noteworthy that the soldiers of the 3rd Belorussian Front were assisted by Polish soldiers of the Home Army. Shortly before the fall of the city, she raised an uprising in it.

End of operation

At the final stage of the operation, the Soviet army completed the liberation of the western Belarusian regions located near the border with Poland. On July 27, Bialystok was recaptured. Thus, the soldiers finally reached the pre-war state borders. On August 14, the army liberated Osovets and took a bridgehead on the Narew River.

On July 26, Soviet units found themselves in the suburbs of Brest. Two days later there were no German occupiers left in the city. In August, the offensive began in eastern Poland. The Germans knocked it over near Warsaw. On August 29, a directive from the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command was published, according to which units of the Red Army were to go on the defensive. The offensive was stopped. The operation is completed.

After the Bagration plan was completed, the Second World War entered its final stage. The Soviet army completely liberated Belarus and could now launch a newly organized offensive in Poland. Germany was approaching final defeat. This is how the great war ended in Belarus. The Bagration plan was implemented as quickly as possible. Gradually, Belarus came to its senses, returning to peaceful life. This country suffered from the German occupation perhaps more than all other Soviet republics.

The offensive operation of the Red Army units in Belarus in the period from the end of June to the end of August 1944 was called “Bagration”. Almost all world-famous military historians recognize this operation as one of the largest in the history of wars.

Results and significance of the operation.

During this powerful offensive covering a vast territory, all of Belarus, part of eastern Poland and a significant part of the Baltic states were liberated from the Nazi invaders. As a result of the lightning-fast offensive actions of the Red Army, Army Group Center was almost completely defeated. On the territory of Belarus, the human and material losses of the Wehrmacht were so significant that Hitler’s military machine was never able to compensate for them until the very end of the war.

Strategic necessity for the operation.

The operational situation on the front along the line Vitebsk - Orsha - Mogilev - Zhlobin required the rapid elimination of the wedge, called by the military the “Belarusian Balcony”. From the territory of this ledge, the German command had an excellent prospect for a counterattack in a southern direction. Such actions by the Nazis could have led to the loss of initiative and the encirclement of the Red Army group in northern Ukraine.

Forces and composition of the warring parties.

The strength of all units of the Red Army that took part in Operation Bagration totaled more than 1 million 200 thousand military personnel. These data are given without taking into account the number of auxiliary and rear units, as well as without taking into account the number of fighters from partisan brigades operating on the territory of Belarus.

According to various estimates, the Germans had about 900 thousand people from Army Group Center on this section of the front.

During the offensive operation in Belarus, 4 fronts of the Red Army were opposed by 4 German armies. The deployment of the Germans was as follows:

2nd Army defended itself at the border of Pinsk and Pripyat
The 9th German army was concentrated southeast of Bobruisk
3 and 4 tank armies were stationed in the area between the Dnieper and Berezina rivers, at the same time covering the Bykhovsky bridgehead to Orsha.

The plan for the summer offensive in Belarus was developed by the General Staff of the Red Army back in April 1944. The idea of ​​the offensive operations was to launch powerful flank attacks on Army Group Center, encircling the main enemy forces in the Minsk region.

Preparatory operations were carried out by Soviet troops until May 31. The initial plan of action was changed thanks to the intervention of Marshal Rokossovsky, who insisted on simultaneously delivering two strikes against the Nazi group. According to this Soviet commander, attacks should have been carried out on Osipovichi and Slutsk with the Germans encircled in the area of ​​​​the city of Bobruisk. Rokossovsky had many opponents at Headquarters. But thanks to the moral support of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin, the strike plan proposed by the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front K.K. Rokossovsky was eventually approved.

During the entire period of preparation for Operation Bagration, data obtained during reconnaissance operations, as well as information about the deployment of enemy units received from partisan detachments, were carefully used and rechecked. During the entire period preceding the offensive, reconnaissance units of different fronts captured more than 80 Wehrmacht soldiers as “tongues”, more than one thousand firing points and over 300 artillery batteries were identified.

The main task at the first stage of the operation was to ensure the effect of complete surprise. For this purpose, the shock and assault units of the fronts moved to their initial positions before the decisive strikes exclusively at night.

Preparations for the offensive operation were carried out in the strictest secrecy, so that the further rapid advance of the assault units would take the enemy by surprise.

During the period of preparation for practicing combat operations, front-line units were specially withdrawn to the rear for this purpose in order to keep enemy reconnaissance completely in the dark. Such stringent precautions to prevent the leakage of any information fully justified themselves.

The forecasts of the Hitlerite command of the armies of the Center group converged on the fact that the Red Army would strike the most powerful blow on the territory of Ukraine in the direction south of the city of Kovel in the direction of the Baltic Sea coast in order to dissect Army Groups North and Center. Therefore, in this area, the Nazis put together a powerful deterrent army group “Northern Ukraine”, consisting of 9 divisions, including 7 tank and 2 motorized divisions. The operational reserve of the German command included 4 Tiger tank battalions. Army Group Center included only one tank, two tank-grenadier divisions and only one Tiger battalion. The Nazis’ small number of deterrent forces on this section of the front even led to the fact that the commander of the Army Group Center, Bush, repeatedly appealed personally to Hitler with a request to allow the withdrawal of some army units to more convenient defense lines along coastline Berezina River. The Fuhrer completely rejected the plan of the generals, the order to defend on the previous lines of defense of Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev and Bobruisk. Each of these cities was turned into a powerful defensive fortress, as it seemed to the German command.

The positions of Hitler's troops were seriously fortified along the entire front with a complex of defensive structures consisting of minefields, machine gun nests, anti-tank ditches and barbed wire. About 20 thousand residents of the occupied regions of Belarus worked forcibly to create a defensive complex.

Until recently, strategists from the Wehrmacht General Staff did not believe in the possibility of a massive offensive by Soviet troops on the territory of Belarus. Hitler's command was so convinced of the impossibility of an offensive by the Red Army on this sector of the front that the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Bush, went on vacation three days before the start of Operation Bagration.

Participated in offensive operations as part of Operation Bagration following connections Red Army: 1,2,3 Belorussian fronts 1 Baltic front. Units of Belarusian partisans played a supporting role in the offensive. Wehrmacht formations fell into strategic pockets near the settlements of Vitebsk, Bobruisk, Vilnius, Brest and Minsk. Minsk was liberated by units of the Red Army on July 3, Vilnius on July 13.

The Soviet command developed an offensive scheme consisting of two stages. The first stage of the operation, which lasted from June 23 to July 4, 1944, consisted of a simultaneous offensive in five directions: Vitebsk, Mogilev, Bobruisk, Polotsk and Minsk directions.

At the second stage of the operation, which ended on August 29, strikes were carried out in the Vilnius, Siauliai, Bialystok, Lublin, Kaunas and Osovets directions.

The success of Operation Bagration in military-strategic terms was simply phenomenal. During two months of continuous offensive battles, the territory of Belarus, part of the Baltic states and a number of regions of Eastern Poland were completely liberated. As a result of the successful offensive, a territory with a total area of ​​more than 650 thousand square meters was liberated. km. The advanced formations of the Red Army captured the Magnuszewski and Pulawy bridgeheads in eastern Poland. From these bridgeheads in January 1945, an offensive was launched by the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, stopping only on the approaches to Berlin.

Military experts and historians have been emphasizing for almost 60 years now that the military defeat of the troops of Nazi Germany was the start of a series of major military defeats on the battlefields in East Germany. Largely due to the military effectiveness of Operation Bagration, the Wehrmacht forces were significantly depleted in other theaters of military operations in Europe due to the transfer by the German command of a significant number of the most militarily trained military units to Belarus such as the motorized infantry division "Grossdeutschland" and the SS tank division "Hermann Goering". The first left its combat location on the Dniester River, the second was transferred to Belarus from Northern Italy.

The losses of the Red Army amounted to more than 178 thousand dead. Total The number of people wounded during the operation exceeded 587 thousand. These data allow us to assert that Operation Bagration became the bloodiest for Red Army units in the period 1943-1945, starting with the battle on Kursk Bulge. To confirm these conclusions, it will be enough to mention that during the Berlin operation, the irretrievable losses of the Red Army units amounted to 81 thousand soldiers and officers. This once again proves the scale and strategic significance of Operation Bagration in the liberation of the territory of the USSR from the German occupiers.

According to official data from the Soviet military command, the total human losses of the German army during the active phase of Operation Bagration during June and July 1944 amounted to about 381 thousand killed and more than 158 thousand captured. The total loss of military equipment is more than 60 thousand units, including 2,735 tanks, 631 military aircraft and more than 57 thousand vehicles.

About 58 thousand German prisoners of war soldiers and officers captured during Operation Bagration were marched in a column through the streets of Moscow in August 1944. The gloomy procession of tens of thousands of Wehrmacht soldiers dragged on for three hours.

Belarusian strategic offensive operation "Bagration"

"The greatness of a victory is measured by the degree of its difficulty."

M. Montaigne

Belarusian offensive operation (1944), “Operation Bagration” - a large-scale offensive operation of the Great Patriotic War, held from June 23 to August 29, 1944. It was named in honor of the Russian commander of the Patriotic War of 1812 P.I. Bagration. One of the largest military operations in the history of mankind.

In the summer of 1944, our troops were preparing for the final expulsion of the Nazi invaders from Russian soil. The Germans, with the despair of the doomed, clung to every kilometer of territory still remaining in their hands. By mid-June, the Soviet-German front ran along the line Narva - Pskov - Vitebsk - Krichev - Mozyr - Pinsk - Brody - Kolomyia - Iasi - Dubossary - Dniester Estuary. On the southern sector of the front, fighting was already taking place beyond the state border, on the territory of Romania. On May 20, 1944, the General Staff completed the development of the plan for the Belarusian offensive operation. It was included in the operational documents of the Headquarters under the code name “Bagration”. The successful implementation of the plan for Operation Bagration made it possible to solve a number of other, no less strategically important tasks.

1. Completely clear the Moscow direction from enemy troops, since the front edge of the ledge was 80 kilometers from Smolensk;

2. Complete the liberation of the entire territory of Belarus;

3. Reach the coast of the Baltic Sea and the borders of East Prussia, which made it possible to cut the enemy’s front at the junctions of army groups “Center” and “North” and isolate these German groups from each other;

4. Create favorable operational and tactical prerequisites for subsequent offensive actions in the Baltic states, Western Ukraine, in the East Prussian and Warsaw directions.

On June 22, 1944, on the third anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War, reconnaissance in force was carried out in sectors of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts. The final preparations for the general offensive were being made.

The main blow in the summer of 1944 was delivered by the Soviet Army in Belarus. Even after the winter campaign of 1944, during which Soviet troops occupied advantageous positions, preparations began for an offensive operation under the code name “Bagration” - one of the largest in terms of military-political results and the scope of operations of the Great Patriotic War.

The Soviet troops were tasked with defeating Hitler's Army Group Center and liberating Belarus. The essence of the plan was to simultaneously break through the enemy’s defenses in six sectors, encircle and destroy the enemy’s flank groups in the area of ​​Vitebsk and Bobruisk.

One of the largest strategic operations of the Second World War was carried out by troops of the 1st Baltic, 3rd, 2nd and 1st Belorussian fronts with the participation of the Dnieper military flotilla. The 1st Army of the Polish Army operated as part of the 1st Belorussian Front. Based on the nature of the combat operations and the content of the tasks performed, the Belarusian strategic operation is divided into two stages. At the first stage (June 23–July 4, 1944), the following front-line offensive operations were carried out: Vitebsk-Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk, Polotsk and Minsk. At the second stage (July 5–August 29, 1944), the following frontal offensive operations were carried out: Vilnius, Siauliai, Bialystok, Lublin-Brest, Kaunas and Osovets.

The operation began on the morning of June 23, 1944. Near Vitebsk, Soviet troops successfully broke through the enemy’s defenses and already on June 25 surrounded five of his divisions to the west of the city. Their liquidation was completed by the morning of June 27. The position on the left flank of Army Group Center's defense was destroyed. Having successfully crossed the Berezina, it cleared Borisov of the enemy. The troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front advancing in the Mogilev direction broke through the strong and deeply echeloned enemy defenses prepared along the Pronya, Basya, and Dnieper rivers, and liberated Mogilev on June 28.

On the morning of June 3, a powerful artillery barrage, accompanied by targeted air strikes, opened the Belarusian operation of the Red Army. The first to attack were the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian and 1st Baltic fronts.

On June 26, tankers of General Bakharov made a breakthrough to Bobruisk. Initially, the troops of the Rogachev strike group encountered fierce enemy resistance.

Vitebsk was taken on June 26. The next day, the troops of the 11th Guards and 34th armies finally broke the enemy's resistance and liberated Orsha. June 28 soviet tanks We were already in Lepel and Borisov. Vasilevsky set the task for General Rotmistrov’s tankers to liberate Minsk by the end of July 2. But the honor of being the first to enter the capital of Belarus fell to the guardsmen of the 2nd Tatsin Tank Corps of General A.S. Burdeyny. They entered Minsk at dawn on July 3. Around noon, tankmen from the 1st Guards Tank Corps of the 1st Belorussian Front made their way to the capital from the southeast. The main forces of the 4th German Army - the 12th, 26th, 35th Army, 39th and 41st - were surrounded east of the city. tank corps. They included more than 100 thousand soldiers and officers.

Undoubtedly, the command of Army Group Center made a number of grave mistakes. First of all, in terms of maneuvering on our own. During the first two days of the Soviet offensive, Field Marshal Bush had the opportunity to withdraw troops to the Berezina line and thereby avoid the threat of encirclement and destruction. Here he could create a new line of defense. Instead, the German commander allowed an unjustified delay in issuing the order to withdraw.

On July 12, the surrounded troops capitulated. 40 thousand soldiers and officers, 11 generals - commanders of corps and divisions - were captured by the Soviets. It was a disaster.

With the destruction of the 4th Army, a huge gap opened in the German front line. On July 4, the Supreme Command Headquarters sent a new directive to the fronts, containing the requirement to continue the offensive without stopping. The 1st Baltic Front was supposed to advance in the general direction of Siauliai, reaching Daugavpils with its right wing and Kaunas with its left. Before the 3rd Belorussian Front, the Headquarters set the task of capturing Vilnius and part of the forces - Lida. The 2nd Belorussian Front received orders to take Novogrudok, Grodno and Bialystok. The 1st Belorussian Front developed an offensive in the direction of Baranovichi, Brest and further to Lublin.

At the first stage of the Belarusian operation, the troops solved the problem of breaking through the strategic front of the German defense, encircling and destroying flank groups. After successfully solving the problems of the initial stage of the Belarusian operation, the issues of organizing continuous pursuit of the enemy and maximizing the expansion of breakthrough areas came to the fore. On July 7, fighting took place on the Vilnius-Baranovichi-Pinsk line. The deep breakthrough of Soviet troops in Belarus created a threat to Army Group North and Army Group Northern Ukraine. Favorable preconditions for an offensive in the Baltic states and Ukraine were evident. The 2nd and 3rd Baltic and 1st Ukrainian fronts began to destroy the German groups opposing them.

The troops of the right wing of the 1st Belorussian Front achieved great operational successes. By June 27, they surrounded over six enemy divisions in the Bobruisk area and, with the active assistance of aviation, the Dnieper military flotilla and partisans, by June 29 they completely defeated them. By July 3, 1944, Soviet troops liberated the capital of Belarus, Minsk. To the east they surrounded 105 thousand German soldiers and officers. The German divisions that found themselves encircled tried to break through to the west and southwest, but were captured or destroyed during the battles that lasted from July 5 to July 11. The enemy lost over 70 thousand people killed and about 35 thousand captured.

With the entry of the Soviet Army to the Polotsk-Lake Naroch-Molodechno-Nesvizh line, a huge gap 400 kilometers long was formed in the strategic front of the German troops. The Soviet troops had the opportunity to begin pursuing the defeated enemy troops. On July 5, the second stage of the liberation of Belarus began; The fronts, closely interacting with each other, successfully carried out five offensive operations at this stage: Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas, Bialystok and Brest-Lublin.

The Soviet Army one by one defeated the remnants of the retreating formations of Army Group Center and inflicted major damage on the troops transferred here from Germany, Norway, Italy and other areas. Soviet troops completed the liberation of Belarus. They liberated part of Lithuania and Latvia, crossed the state border, entered the territory of Poland and approached the borders of East Prussia. The Narew and Vistula rivers were crossed. The front advanced westward by 260-400 kilometers. It was a victory of strategic importance.

The success achieved during the Belarusian operation was promptly developed by active actions in other directions of the Soviet-German front. By August 22, Soviet troops reached the line west of Jelgava, Dobele, Siauliai, Suwalki, reached the outskirts of Warsaw and went on the defensive. During the June-August 1944 operation in Belarus, the Baltic states and Poland, 21 enemy divisions were completely defeated and destroyed. 61 divisions lost more than half of their strength. The German army lost about half a million soldiers and officers killed, wounded and captured. On July 17, 1944, 57,600 German soldiers and officers captured in Belarus were escorted through the central streets of Moscow.

Duration – 68 days. The width of the combat front is 1100 km. The depth of advance of Soviet troops is 550-600 km. Average daily rate of advance: at the first stage - 20-25 km, at the second - 13-14 km.

Results of the operation.

The troops of the advancing fronts defeated one of the most powerful enemy groupings - Army Group Center, its 17 divisions and 3 brigades were destroyed, and 50 divisions lost more than half of their strength. The Byelorussian SSR, part of the Lithuanian SSR and the Latvian SSR were liberated. The Red Army entered the territory of Poland and advanced to the borders of East Prussia. During the offensive, the large water barriers of the Berezina, Neman, and Vistula were crossed, and important bridgeheads on their western banks were captured. Conditions were provided for striking deep into East Prussia and into central areas Poland. To stabilize the front line, the German command was forced to transfer 46 divisions and 4 brigades to Belarus from other sectors of the Soviet-German front and the west. This made it much easier for the Anglo-American troops to conduct combat operations in France.

In the summer of 1944, on the eve and during Operation Bagration, which aimed to liberate Belarus from the Nazi occupiers, the partisans provided truly invaluable assistance to the advancing Soviet army. They captured river crossings, cut off the enemy's escape routes, blew up rails, caused train wrecks, made surprise raids on enemy garrisons, and destroyed enemy communications.

Soon the Soviet troops began their defeat during Iasi-Kishinev operation a large group of Nazi troops in Romania and Moldova. This military operation of the Soviet troops began in the early morning of August 20, 1944. Within two days, the enemy's defenses were broken through to a depth of 30 kilometers. Soviet troops entered the operational space. The large administrative center of Romania, the city of Iasi, was taken. The operation was attended by the search of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts (commanding army generals R.Ya. Malinovsky and F.I. Tolbukhin), sailors of the Black Sea Fleet and the Danube River Flotilla. Fighting deployed over an area of ​​more than 600 kilometers along the front and up to 350 kilometers in depth. More than 2 million 100 thousand people, 24 thousand guns and mortars, 2 and a half thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery units, and about 3 thousand aircraft took part in the battles on both sides.

By the summer of 1944, a favorable situation had developed on the Soviet-German front for offensive actions by the Red Army, which firmly held the strategic initiative. The Soviet troops were tasked with defeating the central group of German troops - Army Group Center, liberating Belarus and reaching the state border of the USSR.

The Belarusian offensive operation in its scale and the number of forces participating in it is one of the largest not only in the Great Patriotic War, but also in the Second World War. This operation was codenamed "Bagration". At its first stage - from June 23 to July 4, 1944- the Vitebsk-Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk and Polotsk operations were successfully carried out, the enemy’s Minsk group was surrounded. At the second stage - from July 5 to August 29, 1944- Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas, Bialystok and Lublin-Brest operations were carried out.

Taking into account additional reserves received during the battles, more than 4 million people took part in Operation Bagration on both sides, about 62 thousand guns and over 7,100 aircraft were involved.

The front line in the Belarusian sector at the beginning of Operation Bagration ran east of Polotsk, Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev, Zhlobin, west of Mozyr and further along the Pripyat River to Kovel. It skirted Belarus from the north and south along almost its entire territory.

This gigantic protrusion was of extremely important strategic importance in the defense system of the German troops. He defended their main strategic directions (East Prussia and Warsaw-Berlin) and ensured the stable position of the army group in the Baltic states.

On the territory of Belarus, the German aggressors created a powerful deep (up to 270 km) defense line “Vaterland” (“Fatherland”). The self-name of this line emphasized that the fate of Germany depended on its power. By a special order of A. Hitler, the cities of Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk, Borisov, and Minsk were declared fortresses. The commanders of these fortresses gave the Fuhrer written obligations to hold them to the last soldier. Here Army Group Center was concentrated, part of the right-flank formations of Army Group North and the left-flank formations of Army Group Northern Ukraine - a total of 63 divisions and 3 brigades, which numbered more than 1,200 thousand people, 9,500 guns and mortars, 900 tanks and assault guns, about 1,300 aircraft.

The attack on the central enemy group on a 700 km front line was carried out by four fronts: the 1st Baltic front under the command of Army General I. Kh. Bagramyan. 1st, 2nd, 3rd Belorussian Fronts under the command of Army General K.K. Rokossovsky, Colonel Generals G.F. Zakharov, I.D. Chernyakhovsky. Their combined forces, together with the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, encircled and defeated the Vitebsk group of Nazis consisting of 5 divisions on June 25-27, 1944. On June 26, 1944, Vitebsk was liberated, and on June 28, Lepel. The enemy suffered significant losses (20 thousand soldiers and officers were killed and more than 10 thousand were captured).

On June 26, 1944, troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front eliminated a powerful enemy defense center near Orsha and liberated Dubrovno, Senno, and Tolochin. At the same time, troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front launched operations in the Mogilev direction. They broke through the powerful enemy defenses and captured Mogilev, Shklov, Bykhov, and Klichev. The main forces of the 4th German forces were stationed in this area. As a result of the Bobruisk operation, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front eliminated the enemy group of six divisions by June 29, 1944. The Nazis left 50 thousand people killed on the battlefield. 23,680 soldiers and officers were captured.

Thus, in six days of offensive, under the attacks of Soviet troops on four fronts, the powerful enemy defenses in the space between the Western Dvina and Pripyat fell. Hundreds of settlements were liberated, including the cities of Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk.