| Voronezh–Kharkov offensive | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theEastern Front ofWorld War II | |||||||
 Eastern Front 1942–11 to 1943–03 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Germany Hungary Italy |  Soviet Union | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Maximilian von WeichsGusztáv JányItalo Gariboldi | Filipp GolikovMax ReyterNikolai Vatutin | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Army Group B2nd Army8th Army | Voronezh FrontBryansk FrontSouthwestern Front | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 30 divisions | 502,400 men | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 321,000 246,000 killed and captured 75,000 wounded or sick, 3,400 artillery pieces, 578 tanks [1] | 153,561[2][3] 55,475 killed or missing 98,086 wounded/sick | ||||||
TheVoronezh–Kharkov strategic offensive operation was a successful strategic offensive operation of the Red Army's Voronezh, Bryansk and South-Western fronts, carried out from January 13 to March 3, 1943 with the aim of defeating the GermanArmy Group B and liberating a large territory and the important industrial and administrative centersVoronezh,Kursk,Belgorod andKharkov.
In the winter of 1942/43, the Red Army launched several large offensives on the southern part of the Eastern Front in the wake of theBattle of Stalingrad. In late December, at the same time as theGerman 6th Army was increasingly enclosed in Stalingrad by the troops ofKonstantin Rokossovsky, the troops of the Southwestern Front defeated the Italian 8th Army as part of theOperation Little Saturn and reached the line Novaya Kalitwa – Markovka – Volozhin – Chernikovsky.
The Stavka planned in the course of these successes a major strategic operation, which aimed at cutting off all German forces in the Caucasus, by takingRostov-on-Don. At the same time, theVoronezh Front, in cooperation with the left wing of theBryansk Front and the right wing of theSouthwestern Front, was tasked with a strong offensive towards Voronezh and Kursk, which aimed to retake Kharkov.
The Voronezh-Kharkov strategic offensive operation had three phases:
The operation took 50 days. The width of the front of hostilities was between 250–400 km. The depth of advance of Soviet troops was between 360–520 km, or an average daily advance of 7–10 km.
Army Group B (Field MarshalMaximilian von Weichs):
The Voronezh-Kharkov Operation was a clear defeat for Army Group B. The 8th Italian Army and the 2nd Hungarian Army were almost completely destroyed.
Several large cities were liberated:Voronezh,Kursk,Belgorod,Kharkov,Rossosh,Valuyki,Ostrogozhsk,Kastornoye,Stary Oskol,Novy Oskol,Shchigry,Oboyan,Bogodukhov,Akhtyrka andSevsk.
In the ensuingThird Battle of Kharkov, German troops recaptured Kharkov (March 16) and Belgorod (March 18) from the overstretched Soviet Army.
During the operation, the Soviets lost in total: 153,561 soldiers, of which 55,475 were killed and 98,086 people were wounded.