It is worth saying that long before this sad event, the inhabitants of the city realized that the occupation of Kyiv could no longer be avoided. Then, a month after the outbreak of hostilities, the people of Kiev began to leave the city and leave for the villages, which were supposed to save the inhabitants from death. However, it is worth saying that most people remained in Kyiv and were ready for an imminent battle. The brave people of Kiev continued to work, build fortifications and prepare for the attack.
Reasons for the battle near Kyiv
After the German troops seized the territory near Smolensk, Hitler decided to attack Kyiv in order to soon conquer all Ukrainian lands. He wanted to capture Ukraine because there were coal deposits on its territory. Hitler believed that this would help provide the German troops with warmth and food so that they could continue military operations on the territory of the Soviet Union.
After the capture of Ukrainian lands, it was planned to encircle Moscow, and then achieve surrender from the USSR.
Defense of Kyiv 1941. Briefly about military operations
The Great Patriotic War claimed a huge number of lives of heroes. No one will be able to forget how the troops of the Red Army defended their homeland from the enemy.
The defense of Kyiv in 1941 became a very difficult period for the Red Army and the townspeople. Despite the unequal forces, the Red Army stood to the last and committed desperate acts in order to prevent the German troops from advancing further. Most of the Red Army units lost contact with the high command, as well as with neighboring units. Many of them were surrounded and could no longer escape from it. It is worth saying that most of the soldiers died or were captured by the enemy.
The lack of ammunition, the number of troops and the help of the townspeople of the Soviet Army
Already in the first battles, the shortage of weapons and ammunition was clearly felt. Hitler planned a lightning-fast capture of the capital, however, despite the superiority of German troops in numbers, as well as the lack of military equipment, soldiers of the Red Army fought heroically against the enemy. The heroic defense of Kyiv in 1941 will never be forgotten, because the soldiers of the Red Army and the inhabitants of the city united and courageously fought for the capital.
Defense of Kyiv 1941. Summary of the attack on the capital
The main task of Hitler was the occupation of the territory of the Donbass, as well as the Crimea. First, these developed agricultural industrial areas would provide the army and rear with resources. Secondly, the capture of Ukrainian lands would ensure the unhindered advance of the German army towards its main goal - Moscow.
After the capture of Smolensk, the German command decided to seize the USSR. Hitler planned to capture Kyiv at lightning speed, but the courageous and freedom-loving troops of the Red Army did not allow his dreams to come true.
Already on July 11, German troops tried to break into Kyiv and capture the capital, but the steadfast defense and counterattacks of the Red Army did not allow the city to be captured with lightning speed. After that, the enemy decided to bypass Kyiv from two sides and already on July 30 resumed fighting and attack on the city.
On August 7, the airborne brigade A.I. Rodimtsev, a counterattack was carried out. This helped to stabilize the situation, but only for short term. It is worth noting that the paratroopers had no experience, and they also did not have heavy weapons. They could oppose strong German infantry only with fighting spirit, courage and courage.
The Soviet command decided to form new divisions and put them into battle. Only this helped to avoid a catastrophic situation.
By August 10, the enemy managed to break through to the southwestern suburbs, but they also failed here: the heroic resistance of the 37th Army forced the German troops to stop again.
Despite the heroic resistance, the offensive of the German troops continued, as well as the defense of Kyiv. July-September 1941 became a very difficult period for the city, because all three months the enemy continued to advance and defeat the Red Army.
Surrounding Kyiv
Due to the fact that the troops of the Red Army resisted stubbornly and courageously, Hitler decided to turn south the 2nd field army, as well as the 1st tank group, which were moving in the direction of Moscow. It must be said that at this time the German troops broke through to the south of the Dnieper. However, at the end of August, enemy troops crossed the river north of Kyiv, and already in the Chernigov region they joined up with their units, which were advancing from the north.
Despite the fact that there was a threat of encirclement, Stalin still decided to continue the defense of the capital. This was reflected in the tragedy of further events, because if the Soviet troops retreated after the first warning of the encirclement, there would not have been so many human casualties.
The defense of Kyiv in 1941 was remembered by everyone for a long time. The heroism and courage of the soldiers of the Red Army cannot but admire. Despite the fact that the number of German troops was almost three times greater than the Red Army, they did not retreat and continued to defend the capital.
On September 9, German troops approached Kyiv and surrounded it. Despite the fact that the Red Army soldiers were practically defeated, they still made desperate attempts to break through.
Already on September 19, German troops managed to enter the city, and the Kiev group of Soviet troops was forced to retreat. The Soviet command made an attempt to release the encircled group of Red Army troops, but it was unsuccessful. A lot of soldiers and commanders were killed, and also captured by the enemy. The defense of Kyiv in 1941 took an incredible number of lives of brave and courageous Red Army soldiers who were ready to do anything for the liberation of their homeland. They gave their lives in order to stay on their land and not give it into the hands of the enemy.
It is worth saying that before the start of the defense of Kyiv, G.K. Zhukov informed Stalin that Soviet troops needed to be transferred from the bend of the Dnieper.
Human losses and the courage of the Red Army
Every schoolchild and adult knows how long the defense of Kyiv lasted in 1941. No one can forget the bloody battles, courage, and heroism of the Red Army. Everyone will remember how the soldiers fought for the capital and defended it as best they could. Not a single soldier had any thoughts of leaving the battlefield and giving the capital into the hands of the enemy. These events will forever remain in the memory, because it is simply impossible to forget them.
It must be said that the defeat of the Red Army was a huge blow to the whole country and greatly influenced the further development of the Great Patriotic War. The hostilities claimed the lives of over 700,000 people. In addition to huge human losses, the USSR lost almost all of it. Because of this, the road to the Donbass, to the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov, as well as to Eastern Ukraine, became open to German troops.
Disruption of Hitler's plans
It is important that the defense of Kyiv in 1941 came as a surprise to the German troops. The fighting in the city thwarted Hitler's plans for a blitzkrieg and the immediate capture of the capital. It is also worth saying that this prevented their advance to the capital, thereby helping to prepare the Soviet troops for the defense of Moscow. For 3 months, the Soviet troops managed to strengthen their positions in order to courageously and heroically repel the blow of the German troops.
The defeat of the Red Army led to the fact that the road to Eastern Ukraine, the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and the Donbass became open for German troops. It is worth saying what the retreat of the Red Army led to:
- On October 17, German troops occupied the Donbass.
- On October 25, enemy troops captured Kharkov.
- On November 2, German troops managed to capture the Crimea, as well as block Sevastopol.
Everyone will remember the defense of Kyiv in 1941 for a long time. 1942 became a bloody year for Ukraine: the Kharkov operation, etc. It is hard to imagine what the inhabitants of the country experienced at that time.
During the defense of Kyiv, all possible measures were taken to increase the combat capability of the Soviet troops. They heroically defended their territory and repelled enemy attacks. It must be said that the human losses were enormous. Many Soviet soldiers were captured by the enemy, but despite this, their courage knew no bounds.
The defense of Kyiv in 1941 is an event that absolutely everyone will remember for a long time. The courage and heroism of the Soviet soldiers left absolutely no one indifferent. They did their best to repel the blows of the enemy and proudly recaptured Kyiv. The defeat affected further development military operations and plans of the German command in relation to the cities of Ukraine, as well as to Moscow.
In September 1941, Soviet troops surrendered the Ukrainian capital to the advancing German units.
This was preceded by more than three months of fighting, which ended with the encirclement of almost the entire South-Western Front (SWF), numbering more than 700 thousand people.
At dawn on June 22, 1941, German aircraft raided Kyiv. Bombs flew at the railway station, the Bolshevik plant, an aircraft plant, power plants, military airfields and other strategic facilities. Some of them ended up in residential buildings.
The city began to prepare for defense. First of all, the authorities took up the Kiev fortified area - a line of more than 200 pillboxes that encircled the city, built in 1929-1935. Anti-tank and anti-personnel ditches were built in front of them. Closer to the city, another line of bunkers and ditches was created. In Kyiv itself, barricades were erected from sandbags and anti-tank hedgehogs were installed. Every day, 160,000 people from Kiev and neighboring villages worked at these jobs.
Kyiv factories for two weeks reoriented to the production of military products. Even schoolchildren collected empty bottles to make "Molotov cocktails" out of them.
In this direction, the German Army Group South was opposed by the forces of the Kyiv Special Military District (KOVO), turned into the SWF with the outbreak of war. The front outnumbered the enemy both in terms of the number of soldiers and the amount of equipment. But the Germans were more experienced, they maneuvered perfectly, skillfully bypassed and surrounded the Soviet forces. And the Red Army lacked both practice and initiative commanders. However, the troops of the South-Western Front resisted fiercely, surprising the Germans with their stubbornness.
The people of Kiev felt that the situation was becoming more complicated, and began to gradually get out of the city - at least to the surrounding villages. Moreover, since the end of June, enterprises and institutions began to be exported. As a result, 335 thousand inhabitants left Kyiv.
How did the Germans manage to capture Kyiv?
The evacuation was not always organized. Representatives of the party nomenklatura tried to take their families out, sometimes with a huge amount of luggage up to the piano and indoor plants. At the same time, local authorities mingled with the families of party members from Western Ukraine, who traveled through Kyiv in transit to the east.
The fighting came close to Kyiv. But on August 10, the Red Army soldiers of the 37th Army, Major General Andrei Vlasov, went on the offensive, and within a few days liberated Zhuliany, Pirogovo, Teremki and other suburbs. At that time, few could have imagined that the heroic general in about a year, in July 1942, would be captured near Leningrad, agree to cooperate with the Germans, and become the head of the army of Russian collaborators - the ROA. And in 1946 Vlasov was executed in Moscow.
The Soviet command, afraid to argue with Stalin, who forbade the surrender of the capital of Ukraine, did not pay attention to the fact that the Germans had gone very far north of the city. In August, the Second Panzer Group of Heinz Guderian and a number of other units of the Army Group Center, advancing in the Moscow direction, following the Fuhrer's directive, turned south. Guderian's tanks quickly reached Konotop - a city in the Sumy region, deep in the rear of the Kyiv group. Kleist rushed towards them from the Kremenchug region.
As a result, the troops of the South-Western Front were on the verge of encirclement, and the military council of the front was ready to leave Kyiv in order to get out of the ring. However, Stalin was adamant: on September 11, he personally contacted the commander of the South-Western Front, Colonel-General Mikhail Kirponos, and ordered that the city be held at all costs. Four days later, the Germans completely surrounded the Kyiv group, and only on the night of September 17-18, Moscow allowed Kirponos to retreat.
But time was lost, and only some units got out of the ring.
But about 700 thousand more people - the main forces of the front - were much less fortunate. They were either killed or captured during the Kyiv operation. Getting out of the encirclement, Kirponos himself died, 800 officers and generals accompanying him were killed or captured - the leadership of the front.
Leaving Kyiv, the Soviet troops, having crossed the Dnieper, blew up all four bridges, along which other units and refugees were walking at that moment. Also, the retreating disabled the city's power plant and water supply, dumped thousands of bags of food into the Dnieper. At that moment, no one thought about those 400 thousand Kyivans who remained in the city.
A short period of anarchy began in Kyiv. Marauders dominated the streets and markets, breaking shop windows, infiltrating bank branches and state institutions.
On September 19, the Germans entered Kyiv. The local population warily greeted the "guests". The inhabitants of the city were struck, as Malakov recalled, by the appearance of the winners - they radiated arrogant superiority.
On the same day, at 14:00, near Bessarabka, a group of elderly Kievites brought bread and salt to German officers, thus trying to improve relations with the new government. But the townspeople hoped in vain for peaceful coexistence. From the next day, executions of Jews began.
The Red Army returned to the city three years later. During the occupation, tens of thousands of people were taken out of Kyiv to work in Germany, and about 100 thousand more were shot by the Germans at Babi Yar. The city was badly damaged.
The liberation of Kyiv turned out to be as bloody and tragic as its defense: trying to enter the capital of Ukraine by the next anniversary October revolution, the Soviet command did not spare the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Donbass was under the occupiers for almost two years. And all this time people had to not only just live, but also survive. Here the author cites excerpts from conversations with people who survived the occupation of Stalino. These conversations are mosaic in nature. Often the interlocutor's thought jumped from one event to another. Often the full picture could be reconstructed from several sources. In the morning . In the evening . The day after the occupation of Stalino, the Germans staged a rally on Lenin Square, where some representatives of the local population greeted the new liberators and sang laudatory odes to them. In total, in addition to the German armed forces, Romanians and Italians were represented in the city. Teenagers remember Italians as cheerful slobs. Romanians, on the other hand, were associated only with gloomy negativity.
Death notice. Cause of death - execution by the German authorities of the city of Stalino in 1942
Behind the Central Department Store on Kobozev Street lived a well-known dermatologist Kaufman in the city. At the beginning of the 20th century, he studied in Germany. He has the best memories of his years of study. Kaufman did not believe in any stories about Nazi atrocities. The nation that gave the world Schiller, Goethe, Wagner cannot do anything bad. He often repeated to acquaintances: "They will bring order and culture!" Kaufman was shot in the very first weeks of the occupation. At the beginning of March 1942, the occupying authorities in the area of the White Quarry (circus area), from the so-called "Sobachevka" built a ghetto for the Jewish population. Mostly they were old people, women and children. O.D. Kritsyn indicated this place: behind the bridge of trolleybus route No. 10, a platform for refueling watering machines. He also remembered that the inhabitants of the ghetto were taken out to work in the city. In particular, I remember how old men and women broke ice near the post office, and police guards drove the passing townspeople to the other side of the street. On the night of April 30 to May 1, the ghetto was liquidated. All the people were led on foot to (Prospect of the Fallen Communards, next to the maternity hospital). For some reason, they were not led in a straight line, but along Skladskaya (Universitetskaya St.), Pochtovaya (Komsomolsky Ave.), further near Kalmius, the column turned onto Nikolaevsky Prospekt (as the Prospect of the Fallen Communards was then called). When the column passed, one of the teenagers found a rag bundle at the edge of the sidewalk. Some of those who were going to die threw away (or dropped) their goods. In the bundle there were three gold chervonets of imperial coinage and about a dozen needles for a primus stove. All the most valuable that a city dweller could have at that time.
When the invaders entered the city, they immediately turned the clocks to Berlin time. The German commandant's office was located in the Narpit's house at 121, Artem Street. The house, as it were, consisted of two halves: administrative and residential. By the way, the future Minister of Trade of the USSR A. Struev lived with his family in its residential part before the war. So, in the administrative wing of the building, the German commandant's office was located. Near the entrance stood sentries, in the foyer two huge banners with a swastika hung down from top to bottom. The commandant's office issued documents to newly arrived business travelers and vacationers for living in apartments and houses of civilians. It is clear that none of the authorities asked for the consent of these persons. Oleg Demyanovich Kritsyn recalled that three more Germans were settled in the three-room apartment where he lived with his father and mother. Moreover, two of the tenants were wary of the third tenant and warned the owners of the apartment to be careful with him: "He is a bad person."
Market in the city of Stalino (Yuzovka). 1943
The boys hung around the commandant's office and were ready to escort the newly quartered to their homes. Many carried bags with food and some documents. The kid adapted carts for carrying luggage, which they importantly called “taxi”. A warrior who approached put his belongings on a wheelbarrow and the guys rolled it to the indicated address for the settlement. The payment fell when a piece of sugar, chocolate, half a loaf of bread, and when a cracker.
But not every soldier was so kind. I didn’t like the Romanian kid very much. Not only does it not pay off, it also hurts. In order not to serve the Romanians, the guys put up a sentinel picket. The approach of an unwanted client was accompanied by a whistle. When the brave warrior, loaded with chicks, approached the parking lot, there was no one there. He had to look for an apartment on his own.
Receipt for acceptance of fruits and vegetables. Accepted one live chicken, weighing 1.16 kg. Stalino, 1942
With the beginning of the occupation, Viktor Khailov and his mother moved from an apartment on Sotsgorodok to a private house with his grandmother on the 12th line. This street was chosen by German motorists. Cars were parked along the street, and drivers were accommodated in houses. The forces of the drivers carried out the protection of vehicles. The front passed 100-150 km from Stalino, and the city was used as a transshipment base, both to provide the front and to rest the front-line soldiers from the front line (but more on that later). Usually the convoy went to the front with cargo, returned a few days later. One or two days were given to rest - and everything was repeated again: the loading of food and materials and to the front line. An elderly driver was settled in the Khailovs' house. He knew a few Russian words and this is how he communicated with the owners. The German was very homesick, showing pictures of his wife and two teenage sons. He treated all the inhabitants of the house well, but he especially became attached to Victor.
Certificate. Worker Kozlovsky S.P. Born in 1915, he works on behalf of the German command at the Rutchenkovo Coke and Chemical Plant. June 1, 1942
Certificate. The presenter of this really works in the Housing and Economic Department of the Larinsky District Administration as an accountant. January 23, 1942
Shortly before Christmas 1941, the convoy loaded up again. This time with gifts for veterans. The guest came in the evening gloomy. After a little thought, he began to quietly explain to Victor: tonight he has to guard cars with cargo for several hours tonight. And there are gifts. And not only tobacco, sweets, warm clothes, but also rum. He knows what is in what cars. Then he suggested: let me guard and look around (according to the “hair dryer” this is called “standing on the nix”), and you will carefully transfer several boxes of rum and sweets to my room under the bed. Then we will fraternally divide the booty.
Soviet leaflet: Under the ensign of Lenin, under the ensign of Stalin - forward, for the re- defeat of the German occupiers and the expulsion of them from between our Fatherland!
What is missing for a teenager? Adventure. Victor agreed to inflict damage on the enemy. Everything was done brilliantly and quickly. Victor went to bed. I woke up in the morning from loud voices, one might even say screams. Looked out the window. All drivers were lined up near the cars. The officer stood in front of the formation, waving his arms and shouting something. Then with two submachine gunners he went to the house opposite. Victor realized that a search had begun. He quickly rushed to the guest's bed, pulled out the drawers and hid the cache, known only to him, to the floor. Just in time, because an officer, submachine gunners and a German guest came in to them. The officer examined the room, personally looked under the bed. Finding nothing, the group left. “You only needed to see it,” Viktor Trofimovich told me. - When they entered - the driver had a pale, frightened face. But when the officer did not find anything under the bed, his eyes became round, like a saucer. He could not understand anything: where everything had gone. They could have shot him for the boxes.” After 15 minutes, the guest returned and with tears, hugs and kisses rushed to Victor. He muttered something like: “Thank you, you understand - you saved my life!”
Certificate for the right to use the radio. 1942-43 Store at the radio point and present at the request of the representative of the radio center
Certificate for the right to use the radio. 1942-43 A payment note without a stamp is invalid.
And you know what thoughts swarmed in the head of a teenager: “How could I not help him? He's an accomplice, along with me. How could I? .. This is a matter of honor.
Incoming order. Circuit. Yuzovka. March 1942
Viktor Trofimovich had an interesting reaction when the local press (it was already under independent Ukraine) published a publication about four hanged by the Germans near the Komsomolets cinema. The invaders threw a metal pipe between the branches of two trees and hung all four of them on it. So, in the article it was proposed to recognize the hanged as underground partisans. Viktor Trofimovich was indignant: “I knew two personally. Shantrap, petty shanty. Something must have been stolen. Here they are hung. Then I should be counted among the partisans. The Germans liked to swim on the dam between the city headquarters. Money and cameras (and almost every soldier had a camera) were left on the shore. I, at least three times, dragged both money and cameras from those who took water procedures. He gave the money to his mother, and sold Leicas at a flea market. It turns out I'm an underground?! Just don’t catch me, I survived.”
German leaflet. With a friendly laugh, they answered the question: do you want to return to Stalin's paradise again?
In the occupied territories, the value of money in Everyday life decreased significantly. As in the early 1920s, before the introduction of the NEP, barter in kind prevailed. An expensive Boston suit (in the pre-war period, its owners were rare lucky ones) cost half a sack of wheat or corn, an engagement ring was equal in value to a sack of potatoes. Furniture and real estate had no valuation. In the first place in importance were products, in the second - clothes and shoes.
German leaflet. With our work we will help to defeat the Bolsheviks. Victory over the Bolsheviks - the liberation of the peoples of the USSR!
Not everyone had a job. The occupiers strictly practiced the statement: "He who does not work, he does not eat." Work went to a greater extent to the female part of the population - cleaning, washing and feeding the occupation units. Lucky for those who got a job cleaning at the canteens. They were allowed to pick up potato peelings. The population made potato pancakes or cooked them. Things left over from peacetime were changed in countryside for products. Some people at home converted caustic soda (lye) into food. Baking soda was added to the dough instead of yeast. It was profitable to make an exchange away from industrial centers. The Zaporozhye region was famous in this respect - the area of Polog and Gulyai Polya. Oleg Demyanovich Kritsyn made such a journey as a teenager. Mom somehow got a soda and Oleg and a neighbor went to change the soda for food. The landmark was clear - high-voltage electric line. A road was trodden along it. A continuous stream of people with simple wheelbarrows and carriages walked in two directions. Somewhere near the Pologi we managed to change soda for sunflower oil. True, the villagers warned to beware of the local commandant. As luck would have it, on the way back, a car caught up with them. The German commandant confiscated the oil. Oleg returned empty.
The Donetsk Vestnik newspaper is the official newspaper for the city of Yuzovka and the region. Friday, October 30, 1942
Newspaper Donetsk Bulletin. Job advertisements
All food was given out on a rationing system. In order to receive ration cards, enterprises and institutions were required to submit a request for cards to the Food Supply Administration of Enterprises no later than one day before the beginning of the next month (1st line, 53). The requirement indicated the total number of workers and then a breakdown of the number of workers in heavy and ordinary work. Further the number of dependents of the specified workers and employees was specified. Children under the age of 14 were considered dependents - family members of the worker and his parents, if they were over 60 years old and they lived with the worker.
Soviet troops and German signpost: Stalino-Stadtkern (Stalino Center). 14 kilometers
What did the civilian population eat? Bread came first. Boiled beet, as a delicacy, was given only to children. Carrots were grated, dried and then they drank carrot tea. Potatoes were distributed in pieces for each member of the family. Two potatoes a day was considered overkill. They made cakes from cornmeal - matorzhoniki. And here it was impossible to do without a homemade hand mill. As I mentioned, potato peels from German canteens were taken home by civilians, washed, boiled or fried.
Destroyed Mariupol. 1943
Red banner over the liberated Stalino. September 1943
Much has been experienced in these two years. There is something to remember the witnesses of history, although it may not always be desirable to remember.
German cemetery. Stalino, 1943
- Photo from the author's archive
The Kiev “cauldron” is the largest in the history of mankind... The Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army G.K. by the time the Kiev battle began, he was replaced as Chief of the General Staff by B.M. "from the western (Moscow) direction south to Kiev to destroy the South-Western Front. The headquarters of the Supreme High Command discovered the turn of the 2nd tank group of Guderian to the south and on August 19 allowed Kirponos to withdraw troops beyond the Dnieper, organizing defense along its left bank, and on the right bank it was ordered to hold only Kiev ...
On August 24, the 2nd Panzer Group launched an offensive against the troops of the front in the direction of Konotop. A few days later, from the Kremenchug region, the 1st Panzer Group of Kleist began hostilities towards it, at the same time delivering an additional blow to Poltava ... On August 28, the 2nd von Weichs Army launched an offensive from the Gomel region to Chernigov, pushing the 5th Army of M. I. Potapov and, at the same time, squeezing the 21st Army of the Bryansk Front between their units and parts of the 2nd Panzer Group of Guderian, which was advancing east in the direction of Konotop. On September 7, the 2nd Panzer Group reached Konotop. On the same day, Marshal S.M. Budyonny applied to the Headquarters with a request to withdraw the 5th Army and was again refused. By September 10, in order to envelop the right flank of the Southwestern Front from the north and surround the Soviet troops in the Kiev region, the 2nd Panzer Group made a deep breakthrough at the junction with the Bryansk Front in the Konotop-Novgorod-Seversky section, part of the forces penetrating into the Romn area. The enemy crossed the Desna in the areas east of Chernigov and in the Okunin direction, the Dnieper - near Kremenchug and southeast. By this time, the reserve of the Southwestern Front was completely exhausted ... Tupikov, Vasilevsky and Budyonny insisted on the immediate withdrawal of troops from Kyiv, Shaposhnikov was against the immediate withdrawal of troops. The Headquarters proposed to conduct desperate attacks on the enemy's Konotop group in cooperation with the Bryansk Front, ... Kyiv should not be left, the bridges should not be blown up until further notice. On September 12, Marshal S.M. Budyonny was removed from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Direction ...
September 15, 1941 a giant ring around the 5th, 21st, 26th and 37th Soviet armies closed. The administration of the South-Western Front was also surrounded ... Pressed from all sides by the enemy, dismembered and left without control, which had suffered heavy losses in previous battles, acted separately and randomly, and more often in small groups. On the night of September 19, Soviet troops left Kyiv ... On September 26, the Kiev strategic defensive operation of the Soviet troops was completed. Kyiv Cauldron 1941
The defeat near Kiev was a heavy blow for the Red Army ... According to German data, 665 thousand people were taken prisoner near Kiev by September 24th. According to data published in 1993 General Staff Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Soviet losses amounted to over 700 thousand people, of which 627.8 thousand were irretrievable. The defeat of the Southwestern Front opened the way for the enemy to Eastern Ukraine, the Sea of Azov and the Donbass. On October 8, the 18th Army of the Southern Front was surrounded and perished in the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov, on October 16 the Odessa defensive region was left to the enemy, Taganrog fell on October 17, Kharkov was captured on October 25, and Crimea was occupied and Sevastopol was blocked on November 2.
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Telegrams from the commander of the 26th Army, Lieutenant General Kostenko, whose army units fought their way out of the encirclement near Orzhitsa ( east of Kyiv - ed.).
Burning soviet tank and trucks after an attempt to break out of the "Kyiv pocket" near the city of Orzhitsa, September 23-26, 1941, from the blog « The army is surrounded. With the army, all the rears of the South-Western Front are surrounded, uncontrollable, fleeing in panic, clogging all the paths by introducing chaos into the troops. All attempts to break through to the east were unsuccessful. We are making the last effort to break through at the Orzhitsa front ... If by morning 29.9 s. no real help will be provided by an auxiliary strike from the east, a catastrophe is possible.
Shtarm 26 - Orzhitsa.
« Communication... lost for two days. 159th Rifle Division is fighting surrounded in Kandybovka, 196th Rifle Division and 164th Rifle Division are cut off and are fighting in the Denisovka area. The remaining parts are surrounded by Orzhitsa. Attempts to break through were unsuccessful. A large number of wounded have accumulated in Orzhitsa, landing of air ambulances is impossible due to a small encirclement ring. 22.9. I make one last attempt to get out of the encirclement to the east. I ask you to orient in the situation and whether real help can be expected.
Kostenko, Kolesnikov, Varennikov
Soviet prisoners of war are sorting out the military property of the units of the Southwestern Front captured by the Germans, Orzhitsa, September 1941, from the blog « The situation is extremely difficult. With the onset of darkness, I will try to break through with the remnants in the direction of Orzhitsa - Iskovtsy - Sands. Huge convoys of the front and the wounded were forced to leave in Orzhitsa, who could not be taken out.
Kostenko, Kolesnikov
« Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army. I am Mackovtsy. I don't have combat units. I can't last more than a day. Will there be support?
