The Battle of Kursk, which lasted from July 5 to August 23, 1943, became one of the key battles of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Soviet and Russian historiography divides the battle into Kursk defensive (July 5–23), Oryol (July 12 - August 18) and Belgorod-Kharkov (August 3–23) offensive operations.

Front on the eve of the battle
During the winter offensive of the Red Army and the subsequent counter-offensive of the Wehrmacht in Eastern Ukraine, a ledge up to 150 km deep and up to 200 km wide was formed in the center of the Soviet-German front, facing the west - the so-called Kursk Bulge (or ledge). The German command decided to conduct a strategic operation on the Kursk salient.
For this, a military operation was developed and approved in April 1943 under the code name Zitadelle ("Citadel").
For its implementation, the most combat-ready formations were involved - a total of 50 divisions, including 16 tank and motorized, as well as a large number of individual units included in the 9th and 2nd field armies of the Army Group "Center", in 4- 1st Panzer Army and Task Force "Kempf" of the Army Group "South".
The grouping of German troops numbered over 900 thousand people, about 10 thousand guns and mortars, 2 thousand 245 tanks and assault guns, 1 thousand 781 aircraft.
Since March 1943, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (VGK) has been working on a strategic offensive plan, the task of which was to defeat the main forces of Army Group South and Center, to crush the enemy defenses on the front from Smolensk to the Black Sea. It was assumed that the Soviet troops would be the first to go on the offensive. However, in mid-April, based on information that the Wehrmacht command was planning to launch an offensive near Kursk, it was decided to bleed the German troops with a powerful defense, and then go on the counteroffensive. Possessing a strategic initiative, the Soviet side deliberately began hostilities not on the offensive, but on the defensive. The development of events showed that this plan was correct.
By the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, the Soviet Central, Voronezh and Steppe fronts included more than 1.9 million people, more than 26 thousand guns and mortars, over 4.9 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery installations, about 2.9 thousand aircraft.
Troops of the Central Front under the command of General of the Army Konstantin Rokossovsky defended the northern front (facing the enemy area) of the Kursk salient, and the troops of the Voronezh Front under the command of Army General Nikolai Vatutin- southern. The troops occupying the ledge relied on the Steppe Front as part of a rifle, three tank, three motorized and three cavalry corps. (commander - Colonel General Ivan Konev).
The actions of the fronts were coordinated by representatives of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command Marshals of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov and Alexander Vasilevsky.

The course of the battle
On July 5, 1943, German strike groups launched an attack on Kursk from the Orel and Belgorod regions. During the defensive phase of the Battle of Kursk On July 12, the largest tank battle in the history of the war took place on the Prokhorovsky field.
Up to 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns simultaneously participated in it from both sides.
The battle near the Prokhorovka station in the Belgorod region was the largest battle of the Kursk defensive operation, which went down in history as the Kursk Bulge.
Staff documents contain evidence of the first battle, which took place on July 10 near Prokhorovka. This battle was carried out not by tanks, but by the rifle units of the 69th Army, which, having exhausted the enemy, themselves suffered heavy losses and were replaced by the 9th Airborne Division. Thanks to the paratroopers, on July 11, the Nazis were stopped at the outskirts of the station.
On July 12, a huge number of German and Soviet tanks collided on a narrow section of the front, only 11-12 kilometers wide.
Tank units "Adolf Hitler", "Dead Head", division "Reich" and others were able to regroup their forces on the eve of the decisive battle. The Soviet command did not know about this.
The Soviet units of the 5th Guards Tank Army were in a deliberately difficult situation: the strike group of tanks was located between the beams southwest of Prokhorovka and was deprived of the opportunity to deploy the tank group to its full extent. Soviet tanks were forced to advance in a small area, limited on one side by the railway, and on the other by the floodplain of the Psyol River.

The Soviet T-34 tank under the command of Pyotr Skrypnik was hit. The crew, having pulled out their commander, took refuge in the funnel. The tank was on fire. The Germans noticed him. One of the tanks moved towards the Soviet tankers to crush them with caterpillars. Then the mechanic, in order to save his comrades, rushed out of the saving trench. He ran to his burning car, and sent it to the German "Tiger". Both tanks exploded.
For the first time, Ivan Markin wrote about a tank duel in the late 50s in his book. He called the battle of Prokhorovka the largest tank battle of the 20th century.
In fierce battles, the Wehrmacht troops lost up to 400 tanks and assault guns, went on the defensive, and on July 16 began to withdraw their forces.
July, 12 the next stage of the Battle of Kursk began - the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops.
5th of August as a result of operations "Kutuzov" and "Rumyantsev" Orel and Belgorod were liberated, in the evening of the same day in Moscow, in honor of this event, an artillery salute was fired for the first time during the war years.
August 23 Kharkov was liberated. Soviet troops advanced 140 km to the south and south-west and took up an advantageous position for launching a general offensive to liberate Left-Bank Ukraine and reach the Dnieper. The Soviet Army finally consolidated its strategic initiative, the German command was forced to go on the defensive on the entire front.
More than 4 million people from both sides took part in one of the largest battles in the history of the Great Patriotic War, about 70 thousand guns and mortars, over 13 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, about 12 thousand combat aircraft were involved.

Results of the battle
After a powerful tank battle, the Soviet Army reversed the events of the war, took the initiative in its own hands and continued to advance to the West.
After the Nazis failed to pull off their operation "Citadel", on the world level it looked like a complete defeat of the German campaign in front of the Soviet Army;
the fascists were morally suppressed, their confidence in their superiority was gone.
The significance of the victory of the Soviet troops on the Kursk salient goes far beyond the limits of the Soviet-German front. It had a huge impact on the further course of the Second World War. The Battle of Kursk forced the fascist German command to withdraw large formations of troops and aviation from the Mediterranean theater of operations.
As a result of the defeat of significant Wehrmacht forces and the transfer of new formations to the Soviet-German front, favorable conditions were created for the landing of Anglo-American troops in Italy, their advance to its central regions, which ultimately predetermined the exit of this country from the war. As a result of the victory at Kursk and the withdrawal of Soviet troops to the Dnieper, a radical change ended not only in the Great Patriotic War, but throughout the Second World War in favor of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.
For exploits in the Battle of Kursk, more than 180 soldiers and officers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, more than 100 thousand people were awarded orders and medals.
About 130 formations and units received the title of guards, more than 20 received the honorary titles of Oryol, Belgorod, Kharkov.
For the contribution to the victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Kursk region was awarded the Order of Lenin, and the city of Kursk was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.
On April 27, 2007, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Kursk was awarded the honorary title of the Russian Federation - the City of Military Glory.
In 1983, the feat of Soviet soldiers on the Kursk Bulge was immortalized in Kursk - On May 9, a memorial to those who died during the Great Patriotic War was opened.
On May 9, 2000, in honor of the 55th anniversary of the victory in the battle, the memorial complex "Kursk Bulge" was opened.

Material prepared according to "TASS-Dossier"

Wounded memory

Dedicated to Alexander Nikolaev,
the driver of the T-34 tank, who made the first tank ram in the battle of Prokhorovka.

The memory will not heal like a wound,
Let's not forget the soldiers of all the simple ones,
That entered this battle, dying,
And they survived forever.

No, not a step back, we look straight ahead,
Only the blood drained from the face,
Only clenched teeth stubbornly -
Here we will stand to the end!

Let any price be the life of a soldier,
We will all become armor today!
Your mother, your city, the honor of a soldier
Behind a boyish thin back.

Two steel avalanches - two forces
Merged among the rye fields.
No you, no me - we are one,
We met like a steel wall.

No maneuvers, no formation - there is strength,
The power of rage, the power of fire.
And the fierce battle mowed down
Both armor and soldier names.

The tank was hit, the battalion commander was wounded,
But again - I'm in battle - let the metal burn!
A shout on the radio to a feat is equal to:
- All! Farewell! I'm going to ram!

Enemies stumble, the choice is hard -
You won't believe your eyes right away.
A burning tank flies without a miss -
He gave his life for his country.

Only the black square of the funeral
Explain to mothers and relatives ...
His heart is in the ground, like fragments...
He remained always young.

... Not a blade of grass on the burnt land,
Tank on tank, armor on armor...
And on the forehead of the commanders wrinkles -
There is nothing to compare the battle with in the war ...
The earthly wound will not heal -
His feat is always with him.
Because he knew when he was dying
How easy it is to die young...

In the memorial temple it is quiet and holy,
Your name is a scar on the wall...
You stayed to live here - yes, it is necessary,
So that the earth does not burn in fire.

On this land, once black,
The burning trail does not let you forget.
Your torn soldier's heart
In spring, cornflowers bloom ...

Elena Mukhamedshina

The Battle of Kursk (Battle of the Kursk Bulge), which lasted from July 5 to August 23, 1943, is one of the key battles of the Great Patriotic War. In Soviet and Russian historiography, it is customary to divide the battle into three parts: the Kursk defensive operation (July 5-23); Orel (July 12 - August 18) and Belgorod-Kharkov (August 3-23) offensive.

During the winter offensive of the Red Army and the subsequent counteroffensive of the Wehrmacht in Eastern Ukraine, a ledge up to 150 km deep and up to 200 km wide was formed in the center of the Soviet-German front, facing the west (the so-called "Kursk Bulge"). The German command decided to conduct a strategic operation on the Kursk salient. For this, a military operation was developed and approved in April 1943 under the code name "Citadel". Having information about the preparation of the Nazi troops for the offensive, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to temporarily go on the defensive on the Kursk Bulge and, during the defensive battle, bleed the enemy’s strike groups and thereby create favorable conditions for the transition of the Soviet troops to a counteroffensive, and then to a general strategic offensive. .

To carry out Operation Citadel, the German command concentrated 50 divisions in the area, including 18 tank and motorized divisions. The enemy grouping, according to Soviet sources, consisted of about 900 thousand people, up to 10 thousand guns and mortars, about 2.7 thousand tanks and more than 2 thousand aircraft. Air support for the German troops was provided by the forces of the 4th and 6th air fleets.

By the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, the Headquarters of the Supreme Command had created a grouping (Central and Voronezh Fronts), which had more than 1.3 million people, up to 20 thousand guns and mortars, more than 3300 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2650 aircraft. The troops of the Central Front (commander - General of the Army Konstantin Rokossovsky) defended the northern front of the Kursk ledge, and the troops of the Voronezh Front (commander - General of the Army Nikolai Vatutin) - the southern front. The troops occupying the ledge relied on the Steppe Front as part of the rifle, 3 tank, 3 motorized and 3 cavalry corps (commanded by Colonel General Ivan Konev). The fronts were coordinated by representatives of the Headquarters Marshals of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov and Alexander Vasilevsky.

On July 5, 1943, according to the plan of Operation Citadel, German strike groups launched an attack on Kursk from the Orel and Belgorod regions. From the side of Orel, a grouping under the command of Field Marshal Günther Hans von Kluge (Army Group Center) was advancing, from Belgorod, a grouping under the command of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein (Task Force Kempf of the Army Group South).

The task of repelling the offensive from the side of Orel was entrusted to the troops of the Central Front, from the side of Belgorod - the Voronezh Front.

On July 12, in the area of ​​​​the Prokhorovka railway station, 56 kilometers north of Belgorod, the largest oncoming tank battle of the Second World War took place - a battle between the advancing enemy tank group (Task Force Kempf) and the Soviet troops inflicting a counterattack. On both sides, up to 1200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part in the battle. The fierce battle lasted all day, by the evening the tank crews, together with the infantry, fought hand to hand. In one day, the enemy lost about 10 thousand people and 400 tanks and was forced to go on the defensive.

On the same day, the troops of the Bryansk, Central and left wing of the Western Fronts launched Operation Kutuzov, which had the goal of crushing the Oryol grouping of the enemy. On July 13, the troops of the Western and Bryansk fronts broke through the enemy defenses in the Bolkhov, Khotynets and Oryol directions and advanced to a depth of 8 to 25 km. On July 16, the troops of the Bryansk Front reached the line of the Oleshnya River, after which the German command began to withdraw its main forces to their original positions. By July 18, the troops of the right wing of the Central Front completely eliminated the enemy's wedge in the Kursk direction. On the same day, the troops of the Steppe Front were introduced into the battle, which began to pursue the retreating enemy.

Developing the offensive, the Soviet ground forces, supported from the air by the strikes of the forces of the 2nd and 17th air armies, as well as long-range aviation, by August 23, 1943, pushed the enemy back to the west by 140-150 km, liberated Orel, Belgorod and Kharkov. According to Soviet sources, the Wehrmacht lost 30 selected divisions in the Battle of Kursk, including 7 tank divisions, over 500 thousand soldiers and officers, 1.5 thousand tanks, more than 3.7 thousand aircraft, 3 thousand guns. The losses of the Soviet troops surpassed the German ones; they amounted to 863 thousand people. Near Kursk, the Red Army lost about 6,000 tanks.

The beginning of the combat path of the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps

The defeat of the fascist German army near Stalingrad in the winter of 1942-1943 shook the fascist bloc to its foundations. For the first time since the beginning of the Second World War, Nazi Germany, in all its inevitability, faced the formidable specter of inevitable defeat. Its military power, the morale of the army and the population were thoroughly undermined, and the prestige in the eyes of the allies was seriously shaken. In order to improve Germany's internal political situation and prevent the disintegration of the fascist coalition, the Nazi command decided in the summer of 1943 to conduct a major offensive operation on the central sector of the Soviet-German front. With this offensive, it hoped to defeat the grouping of Soviet troops located on the Kursk salient, seize the strategic initiative again and turn the course of the war in its favor. By the summer of 1943, the situation on the Soviet-German front had already changed in favor of the Soviet Union. By the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, the overall superiority in forces and means was on the side of the Red Army: in people by 1.1 times, in artillery - by 1.7, in tanks - by 1.4 and in combat aircraft - by 2 times.

The Battle of Kursk occupies a special place in the Great Patriotic War. It lasted 50 days and nights, from July 5 to August 23, 1943. This battle has no equal in its bitterness and stubbornness of the struggle.

The goal of the Wehrmacht: 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. To implement his plans, the enemy concentrated powerful strike groups, which numbered over 900 thousand people, about 10 thousand guns and mortars, up to 2700 tanks and assault guns, about 2050 aircraft. Great hopes were placed on the latest Tiger and Panther tanks, Ferdinand assault guns, Focke-Wulf-190-A fighter aircraft and Heinkel-129 attack aircraft.

The purpose of the Red Army: the Soviet command decided to first bleed the enemy strike groups in defensive battles, and then go on the counteroffensive.

The battle that began immediately took on a grandiose scope and was of an extremely tense character. Our troops did not flinch. They met the avalanche of enemy tanks and infantry with unprecedented stamina and courage. The offensive of the enemy strike groups was suspended. Only at the cost of huge losses did he manage to penetrate our defenses in some areas. On the Central Front - 10-12 kilometers, on the Voronezh - up to 35 kilometers. Hitler's operation "Citadel" was finally buried by the largest oncoming tank battle near Prokhorovka in the entire Second World War. It happened on July 12th. 1200 tanks and self-propelled guns simultaneously participated in it from both sides. This battle was won by the Soviet soldiers. The Nazis, having lost up to 400 tanks during the day of the battle, were forced to abandon the offensive.

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 the evening of August 5, in honor of this major success, a victorious salute was given in Moscow for the first time in two years of the war. Since that time, artillery salutes have constantly announced the glorious victories of Soviet weapons. On August 23, Kharkov was liberated.

Thus ended the Battle of the Kursk Fiery Bulge. During it, 30 selected enemy divisions were defeated. The Nazi 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 in favor of the Red Army.

Losses in the Battle of Kursk.

Type of losses	Red Army	Wehrmacht	Ratio
Personnel
Guns and mortars
Tanks and self-propelled guns
Aircraft

UDTK on the Kursk Bulge. Oryol offensive operation

Baptism of fire in the Battle of Kursk was received by the 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps, which is part of the 4th Tank Army.

T-34 tanks - 202 units, T-70 - 7, BA-64 armored vehicles - 68,

self-propelled 122-mm guns - 16, 85-mm guns - 12,

installations M-13 - 8, 76-mm guns - 24, 45-mm guns - 32,

37 mm guns - 16, 120 mm mortars - 42, 82 mm mortars - 52.

The army, commanded by Lieutenant General of the Tank Troops Vasily Mikhailovich Badanov, arrived at the Bryansk Front on the eve of the battles that began on July 5, 1943, and during the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops was brought into battle in the Oryol direction. The Ural Volunteer Tank Corps under the command of Lieutenant General Georgy Semenovich Rodin had the task of advancing from the Seredichi region to the south, cutting off the enemy’s communications on the Bolkhov-Khotynets line, reaching the area of ​​the village of Zlyn, and then saddling the Orel-Bryansk railway and highway and cutting off the escape route of the Oryol grouping of the Nazis to the west. And the Urals fulfilled the order.

On July 29, Lieutenant General Rodin set the task of the 197th Sverdlovsk and 243rd Molotov tank brigades: to cross the Nugr River in cooperation with the 30th motorized rifle brigade (MSBR), capture the village of Borilovo and then advance in the direction of the settlement Vishnevsky. The village of Borilovo was located on a high bank and dominated the surrounding area, and from the bell tower of the church it was visible for several kilometers in a circle. All this made it easier for the enemy to conduct a defense and hampered the actions of the advancing corps units. At 20:00 on July 29, after a 30-minute artillery preparation and a volley of guards mortars, two tank motorized rifle brigades began to force the Nugr River. Under the cover of tank fire, the company of Senior Lieutenant A.P. Nikolaev was the first to cross the Nugr River, capturing the southern outskirts of the village of Borilovo. By the morning of July 30, the battalion of the 30th Motorized Rifle Brigade, supported by tanks, captured the village of Borilovo despite the stubborn resistance of the enemy. All units of the Sverdlovsk brigade of the 30th UDTK were concentrated here. By order of the corps commander at 10:30, the brigade launched an offensive in the direction - height 212.2. The assault was heavy. The 244th Chelyabinsk Tank Brigade, which was previously in the reserve of the 4th Army, graduated from it.

Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Petrovich Nikolaev, company commander of a motorized rifle battalion of the 197th Guards Sverdlovsk Tank Brigade. From personal archiveON THE.Kirillova.

On July 31, in the liberated Borilovo, the heroically dead tankers and submachine gunners were buried, including commanders of tank battalions: Major Chazov and Captain Ivanov. The mass heroism of the corps soldiers, shown in the battles from July 27 to 29, was highly appreciated. Only in the Sverdlovsk brigade, 55 soldiers, sergeants and officers were awarded government awards for these battles. In the battle for Borilovo, the Sverdlovsk sanitary instructor Anna Alekseevna Kvanskova accomplished a feat. She rescued the wounded and, replacing the artillerymen who were out of action, brought shells to firing positions. A. A. Kvanskova was awarded the Order of the Red Star, and later for her heroism she was awarded the Orders of Glory III and II degrees.

Guards sergeant Anna Alekseevna Kvanskova assists the lieutenantA. A.Lysin, 1944.

Photo by M. Insarov, 1944. TsDOOSO. F.221. OP.3.D.1672

The exceptional courage of the Urals warriors, their readiness to carry out a combat mission without sparing their lives, aroused admiration. But the pain from the losses suffered was mixed with him. It seemed that they were too great in comparison with the achieved results.

A column of German prisoners of war captured in the battles in the Oryol direction, USSR, 1943.

Destroyed German vehicles during the battles on the Kursk Bulge, USSR, 1943.

The battle on the Kursk Bulge lasted 50 days. As a result of this operation, the strategic initiative finally went over to the side of the Red Army and until the end of the war was carried out mainly in the form of offensive actions on its part. On the day of the 75th anniversary of the start of the legendary battle, the website of the Zvezda TV channel collected ten little-known facts about the Battle of Kursk. 1. Initially, the battle was not planned as an offensive When planning the spring-summer military campaign of 1943, the Soviet command faced a difficult choice: which method of action to prefer - to attack or defend. In their reports on the situation in the area of ​​the Kursk Bulge, Zhukov and Vasilevsky proposed to bleed the enemy in a defensive battle, and then go on the counteroffensive. A number of military leaders opposed - Vatutin, Malinovsky, Timoshenko, Voroshilov - but Stalin supported the decision to defend, fearing that as a result of our offensive, the Nazis would be able to break through the front line. The final decision was made in late May - early June, when.

“The real course of events showed that the decision to deliberately defend was the most rational type of strategic action,” emphasizes military historian, Candidate of Historical Sciences Yuri Popov.

2. In terms of the number of troops, the battle exceeded the scale of the Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Kursk is still considered one of the largest battles of World War II. On both sides, more than four million people were involved in it (for comparison: during the Battle of Stalingrad, a little more than 2.1 million people participated in different stages of hostilities). According to the General Staff of the Red Army, only during the offensive from July 12 to August 23, 35 German divisions were defeated, including 22 infantry, 11 tank and two motorized. The remaining 42 divisions suffered heavy losses and largely lost their combat effectiveness. In the Battle of Kursk, the German command used 20 tank and motorized divisions out of a total of 26 divisions that were available at that time on the Soviet-German front. After Kursk, 13 of them were completely defeated. 3. Information about the plans of the enemy was promptly received from scouts from abroad Soviet military intelligence was able to timely reveal the preparation of the German army for a major offensive on the Kursk salient. Foreign residencies obtained information in advance about Germany's preparations for the spring-summer campaign of 1943. So, on March 22, the GRU resident in Switzerland, Sandor Rado, reported that for “... an attack on Kursk, the SS tank corps will probably be used (the organization is banned in the Russian Federation - approx. ed.), which is currently receiving replenishment.” And intelligence officers in England (GRU resident, Major General I. A. Sklyarov) obtained an analytical report prepared for Churchill "Assessment of possible German intentions and actions in the Russian campaign of 1943."

"The Germans will concentrate their forces to eliminate the Kursk salient," the document said.

Thus, the information obtained by the scouts in early April revealed in advance the plan of the enemy's summer campaign and made it possible to forestall the enemy's strike. 4. The Kursk Bulge became a large-scale baptism of fire for Smersh The Smersh counterintelligence agencies were formed in April 1943 - three months before the start of the historic battle. "Death to Spies!" - so succinctly and at the same time succinctly defined the main task of this special service, Stalin. But the Smershevites not only reliably protected units and formations of the Red Army from enemy agents and saboteurs, but also, which was used by the Soviet command, conducted radio games with the enemy, carried out combinations to bring German agents to our side. The book "The Fiery Arc": The Battle of Kursk through the Eyes of the Lubyanka, published on the basis of the materials of the Central Archive of the FSB of Russia, tells about a whole series of Chekist operations in that period.
So, in order to misinform the German command, the Smersh Directorate of the Central Front and the Smersh Department of the Oryol Military District conducted a successful radio game "Experience". It lasted from May 1943 to August 1944. The work of the radio station was legendary on behalf of the reconnaissance group of Abwehr agents and misled the German command about the plans of the Red Army, including in the Kursk region. In total, 92 radiograms were transmitted to the enemy, 51 were received. Several German agents were called to our side and neutralized, cargo dropped from the aircraft was received (weapons, money, fictitious documents, uniforms). . 5. On the Prokhorovsky field, the number of tanks fought against their quality This settlement began what is believed to be the largest battle of armored vehicles for the entire time of the Second World War. On both sides, up to 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part in it. The Wehrmacht had superiority over the Red Army due to the greater efficiency of its equipment. For example, the T-34 had only a 76-mm cannon, and the T-70 had a 45-mm gun. The Churchill III tanks, received by the USSR from England, had a 57 mm gun, but this vehicle was notable for its low speed and poor maneuverability. In turn, the German heavy tank T-VIH "Tiger" had an 88-mm cannon, with a shot from which it pierced the armor of the thirty-four at a distance of up to two kilometers.
Our tank, on the other hand, could penetrate 61 mm thick armor at a distance of a kilometer. By the way, the frontal armor of the same T-IVH reached a thickness of 80 millimeters. It was possible to fight with the hope of success in such conditions only in close combat, which was applied, however, at the cost of heavy losses. Nevertheless, near Prokhorovka, the Wehrmacht lost 75% of its tank resources. For Germany, such losses were catastrophic and proved difficult to replace almost until the very end of the war. 6. Cognac of General Katukov did not reach the Reichstag During the Battle of Kursk, for the first time in the years of the war, the Soviet command used large tank formations in echelon to hold a defensive zone on a broad front. One of the armies was commanded by Lieutenant General Mikhail Katukov, future twice Hero of the Soviet Union, marshal of the armored forces. Subsequently, in his book "On the Edge of the Main Strike", in addition to the difficult moments of his front-line epic, he recalled one funny incident related to the events of the Battle of Kursk.

“In June 1941, after leaving the hospital, on the way to the front, I popped into a store and bought a bottle of cognac, deciding that I would drink it with my comrades as soon as I won the first victory over the Nazis,” the front-line soldier wrote. - Since then, this cherished bottle has traveled with me on all fronts. And finally, the long-awaited day has come. We arrived at the CP. The waitress quickly fried the eggs, I took a bottle out of my suitcase. They sat down with their comrades at a simple wooden table. Cognac was poured, which brought back pleasant memories of a peaceful pre-war life. And the main toast - "To victory! To Berlin!"

7. In the sky over Kursk, the enemy was smashed by Kozhedub and Maresyev During the Battle of Kursk, many Soviet soldiers showed heroism.

“Every day of fighting gave many examples of courage, bravery, stamina of our soldiers, sergeants and officers,” notes retired Colonel-General Alexei Kirillovich Mironov, participant in the Great Patriotic War. “They deliberately sacrificed themselves, trying to prevent the enemy from passing through their defense sector.”

Over 100 thousand participants in those battles were awarded orders and medals, 231 became Heroes of the Soviet Union. 132 formations and units received the title of guards, and 26 were awarded the honorary titles of Oryol, Belgorod, Kharkov and Karachev. Future three times Hero of the Soviet Union. Alexei Maresyev also took part in the battles. On July 20, 1943, during an air battle with superior enemy forces, he saved the lives of two Soviet pilots by destroying two enemy FW-190 fighters at once. On August 24, 1943, the deputy squadron commander of the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Senior Lieutenant A.P. Maresyev, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. 8. The defeat in the Battle of Kursk was a shock to Hitler After the failure at the Kursk Bulge, the Fuhrer was furious: he lost the best connections, not yet knowing that in the fall he would have to leave the entire Left-Bank Ukraine. Without changing his character, Hitler immediately laid the blame for the Kursk failure on the field marshals and generals who were in direct command of the troops. Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, who developed and conducted Operation Citadel, later wrote:

“This was the last attempt to keep our initiative in the East. With its failure, the initiative finally passed to the Soviet side. Therefore, Operation Citadel is a decisive turning point in the war on the Eastern Front.

The German historian from the military history department of the Bundeswehr Manfred Pay wrote:

“The irony of history is that the Soviet generals began to learn and develop the art of operational leadership of the troops, which was highly appreciated by the German side, and the Germans themselves, under pressure from Hitler, switched to Soviet hard-defense positions - according to the principle “by all means.”

By the way, the fate of the elite SS tank divisions that took part in the battles on the Kursk Bulge - the Leibstandarte, the Totenkopf and the Reich - developed even more sadly in the future. All three formations participated in the battles with the Red Army in Hungary, were defeated, and the remnants made their way into the American zone of occupation. However, the SS tankers were handed over to the Soviet side, and they were punished as war criminals. 9. The victory at the Kursk Bulge brought the opening of the Second Front closer As a result of the defeat of significant Wehrmacht forces on the Soviet-German front, more favorable conditions were created for the deployment of American-British troops in Italy, the beginning of the disintegration of the fascist bloc was laid - the Mussolini regime collapsed, Italy withdrew from the war on the side of Germany. Under the influence of the victories of the Red Army, the scale of the resistance movement in the countries occupied by German troops increased, and the authority of the USSR as the leading force of the anti-Hitler coalition was strengthened. In August 1943, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff prepared an analytical document in which they assessed the role of the USSR in the war.

"Russia occupies a dominant position," the report noted, "and is a decisive factor in the forthcoming defeat of the Axis in Europe."

It is no coincidence that President Roosevelt was aware of the danger of further delaying the opening of the Second Front. On the eve of the Tehran Conference, he told his son:

“If things in Russia continue as they are now, then perhaps next spring there will be no need for a Second Front.”

Interestingly, a month after the end of the Battle of Kursk, Roosevelt already had his own plan for the dismemberment of Germany. He presented it just at a conference in Tehran. 10. For the salute in honor of the liberation of Orel and Belgorod, they used up the entire supply of blank shells in Moscow During the Battle of Kursk, two key cities of the country, Orel and Belgorod, were liberated. Joseph Stalin ordered an artillery salute to be arranged in Moscow on this occasion - the first in the entire war. It was estimated that in order for the salute to be heard throughout the city, about 100 anti-aircraft guns would have to be deployed. There were such weapons, but only 1,200 blank shells were at the disposal of the organizers of the solemn action (during the war, they were not kept in reserve in the Moscow air defense garrison). Therefore, out of 100 guns, only 12 volleys could be fired. True, the Kremlin division of mountain guns (24 guns) was also involved in the salute, blank shells for which were available. However, the effect of the action could not turn out as expected. The solution was to increase the interval between volleys: at midnight on August 5, firing from all 124 guns was carried out every 30 seconds. And in order for the salute to be heard everywhere in Moscow, groups of guns were placed in stadiums and wastelands in different parts of the capital.

During the winter offensive of the Red Army and the subsequent counter-offensive of the Wehrmacht in Eastern Ukraine, a ledge up to 150 km deep and up to 200 km wide was formed in the center of the Soviet-German front, facing the west (the so-called "Kursk Bulge"). During April-June, there was an operational pause at the front, during which the parties were preparing for the summer campaign.

Plans and forces of the parties

The German command decided to conduct a major strategic operation on the Kursk ledge in the summer of 1943. It was planned to launch converging strikes from the areas of the cities of Orel (from the north) and Belgorod (from the south). The shock groups were to link up in the Kursk region, surrounding the troops of the Central and Voronezh Fronts of the Red Army. The operation received the code name "Citadel". At a meeting with Manstein on May 10-11, the plan was adjusted at the suggestion of Gott: the 2nd such SS corps turns from the Oboyansky direction towards Prokhorovka, where terrain conditions allow for a global battle with the armored reserves of Soviet troops. And, based on the losses, continue the offensive or go on the defensive. (From the interrogation of the chief of staff of the 4th tank army, General Fangor)

Kursk defensive operation

The German offensive began on the morning of July 5, 1943. Since the Soviet command knew exactly the start time of the operation - 3 a.m. (the German army fought according to Berlin time - translated into Moscow 5 a.m.), at 22:30 and 2:20 Moscow time, counter-barrage preparation was carried out by the forces of two fronts with the amount of ammunition 0.25 ammo. German reports noted significant damage to communication lines and minor losses in manpower. An unsuccessful air raid was also carried out by the forces of the 2nd and 17th air armies (more than 400 attack aircraft and fighters) on the Kharkov and Belgorod enemy air hubs.

Battle of Prokhorovka

On July 12, the largest oncoming tank battle in history took place in the Prokhorovka area. From the German side, according to V. Zamulin, the 2nd SS Panzer Corps participated in it, which had 494 tanks and self-propelled guns, including 15 Tigers and not a single Panther. According to Soviet sources, about 700 tanks and assault guns participated in the battle from the German side. On the Soviet side, the 5th Panzer Army of P. Rotmistrov, numbering about 850 tanks, participated in the battle. After a massive air strike [source not specified 237 days], the battle on both sides entered its active phase and continued until the end of the day. By the end of July 12, the battle ended with unclear results, only to resume on the afternoon of July 13 and 14. After the battle, the German troops were unable to move forward in any significant way, despite the fact that the losses of the Soviet tank army, caused by the tactical errors of its command, were much greater. Having advanced 35 kilometers over July 5-12, Manstein's troops were forced, having trampled on the achieved lines for three days in vain attempts to break into the Soviet defenses, to begin the withdrawal of troops from the captured "bridgehead". During the battle there was a turning point. The Soviet troops, which went on the offensive on July 23, threw back the German armies in the south of the Kursk Bulge to their original positions.

Losses

According to Soviet data, about 400 German tanks, 300 vehicles, over 3,500 soldiers and officers remained on the battlefield in the battle of Prokhorovka. However, these numbers are being questioned. For example, according to the calculations of G. A. Oleinikov, more than 300 German tanks could not take part in the battle. According to the research of A. Tomzov, referring to the data of the German Federal Military Archive, during the battles on July 12-13, the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler division irretrievably lost 2 Pz.IV tanks, 2 Pz.IV and 2 Pz.III tanks were sent for long-term repairs , in the short term - 15 Pz.IV and 1 Pz.III tanks. The total losses of tanks and assault guns of the 2nd SS TC on July 12 amounted to about 80 tanks and assault guns, including at least 40 units lost by the Totenkopf Division.

- At the same time, the Soviet 18th and 29th tank corps of the 5th Guards Tank Army lost up to 70% of their tanks

The central front involved in the battle in the north of the arc, for July 5-11, 1943, suffered losses of 33,897 people, of which 15,336 were irretrievable, its enemy, the 9th Army of the Model, lost 20,720 people over the same period, which gives a loss ratio of 1.64:1. The Voronezh and Steppe fronts, which participated in the battle on the southern face of the arc, lost 143,950 people on July 5-23, 1943, according to modern official estimates (2002), of which 54,996 were irrevocable. Including only the Voronezh Front - 73,892 total losses. However, the chief of staff of the Voronezh Front, Lieutenant General Ivanov, and the head of the operational department of the front headquarters, Major General Teteshkin, thought differently: they considered the losses of their front at 100,932 people, of which 46,500 were irretrievable. If, contrary to Soviet documents of the war period, the official numbers are considered correct, then taking into account German losses on the southern front of 29,102 people, the ratio of the losses of the Soviet and German sides is 4.95: 1 here.

- For the period from July 5 to July 12, 1943, the Central Front used up 1079 wagons of ammunition, and Voronezh - 417 wagons, almost two and a half times less.

Results of the defensive phase of the battle

The reason that the losses of the Voronezh Front so sharply exceeded the losses of the Central Front is in the smaller massing of forces and means in the direction of the German attack, which allowed the Germans to actually achieve an operational breakthrough on the southern face of the Kursk salient. Although the breakthrough was closed by the forces of the Steppe Front, it allowed the attackers to achieve favorable tactical conditions for their troops. It should be noted that only the absence of homogeneous independent tank formations did not give the German command the opportunity to concentrate their armored forces in the direction of the breakthrough and develop it in depth.

Oryol offensive operation (Operation Kutuzov). On July 12, the Western (commanded by Colonel General Vasily Sokolovsky) and Bryansk (commanded by Colonel General Markian Popov) fronts launched an offensive against the 2nd Panzer and 9th armies of the enemy in the Orel region. By the end of the day on July 13, Soviet troops broke through the enemy defenses. On July 26, the Germans left the Orlovsky bridgehead and began to withdraw to the Hagen defensive line (east of Bryansk). On August 5, at 05-45, Soviet troops completely liberated Oryol.

Belgorod-Kharkov offensive operation (Operation Rumyantsev). On the southern front, the counteroffensive by the forces of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts began on August 3. On August 5, at about 18-00, Belgorod was liberated, on August 7 - Bogodukhov. Developing the offensive, the Soviet troops cut the Kharkov-Poltava railroad on August 11, and captured Kharkov on August 23. The German counterattacks were not successful.

- On August 5, the first salute in the entire war was given in Moscow - in honor of the liberation of Orel and Belgorod.

Results of the Battle of Kursk

- The victory near Kursk marked the transition of the strategic initiative to the Red Army. By the time the front was stabilized, Soviet troops had reached their starting positions for an offensive on the Dnieper.

- After the end of the battle on the Kursk Bulge, the German command lost the opportunity to conduct strategic offensive operations. Local massive offensives, such as Watch on the Rhine (1944) or the Balaton operation (1945) were also not successful.

- Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, who developed and carried out Operation Citadel, later wrote:

- It was the last attempt to keep our initiative in the East. With her failure, tantamount to failure, the initiative finally passed to the Soviet side. Therefore, Operation Citadel is a decisive turning point in the war on the Eastern Front.

- - Manstein E. Lost victories. Per. with him. - M., 1957. - S. 423

- According to Guderian,

- As a result of the failure of the Citadel offensive, we suffered a decisive defeat. The armored forces, replenished with such great difficulty, were put out of action for a long time due to heavy losses in people and equipment.

- - Guderian G. Memoirs of a soldier. - Smolensk: Rusich, 1999

Differences in loss estimates

- The losses of the parties in the battle remain unclear. Thus, Soviet historians, including Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR A. M. Samsonov, speak of more than 500,000 killed, wounded and captured, 1,500 tanks and over 3,700 aircraft.

However, German archival data show that in July-August 1943, the Wehrmacht lost 537,533 people on the entire Eastern Front. These figures include those killed, wounded, sick, missing (the number of German prisoners in this operation was insignificant). And even despite the fact that the main fighting at that time took place in the Kursk region, the Soviet figures for German losses of 500,000 look somewhat exaggerated.

- In addition, according to German documents, on the entire Eastern Front, the Luftwaffe lost 1696 aircraft in July-August 1943.

On the other hand, even Soviet commanders during the war years did not consider the Soviet military reports about German losses to be true. Thus, General Malinin (chief of staff of the front) wrote to the lower headquarters: “Looking through the daily results of the day on the amount of manpower and equipment destroyed and captured trophies, I came to the conclusion that these data are significantly overestimated and, therefore, do not correspond to reality.”