Polesskoe Offensive

The Polesskoe Offensive, also known as the Battle of Kovel, was a Soviet offensive operation, launched by the 2nd Belorussian Front at the junction of Army Group South and Army Group Center, with the goal to strike deep into the flank and the rear of Army Group Center.[3] It was part of a greater Dnieper-Carpathian Strategic Offensive on the right-bank Ukraine.

Polleskoe Offensive/Battle of Kovel
Part of Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive
Date15 March- 5 April 1944[1]
Location
Polesie region, Kovel area
Result Tactical German victory[2]
Belligerents
 Germany
 Hungary		  Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Herbert Gille Pavel Kurochkin
Units involved

Elements of:
4th Panzer Army

2nd Army		 2nd Belorussian Front

The offensive started out successfully, with the Red Army forces penetrating the German defenses in depth and pushing them back towards Kovel, a key town declared to be a fortress (Festung) by the Germans, which was encircled by Soviet units on 18 March.[4]

The German High Command, recognizing the danger to the rear of Army Group Center and the possible consequences of the fall of Kovel Garrison, took energetic measures to reinforce this sector. All told, between March–April 1944, the Germans transferred 9 divisions (including 2 panzer), 1 heavy panzer battalion and 2 StuG Assault Gun brigades from the main front of Army Group Center to its far right flank located deep in the rear of the army group, as well as 1 panzer division from Poland.[5]

Thanks to these reinforcements, the Kovel Garrison was de-blockaded by the German relief forces on 5 April 1944,[6] with Soviet forces being pushed back to the outskirts of Kovel, after which the front-lines stabilized.

References
  1. Грылев А.Н. Днепр-Карпаты-Крым. Освобождение Правобережной Украины и Крыма в 1944 году. Москва: Наука, 1970, p. 265
  2. Пономаренко Р. О. Битва За Ковель. Москва: Вече, 2014, p. 3
  3. Грылев А.Н. Днепр-Карпаты-Крым. Освобождение Правобережной Украины и Крыма в 1944 году. Москва: Наука, 1970, p. 202.
  4. Грылев А.Н. Днепр-Карпаты-Крым. Освобождение Правобережной Украины и Крыма в 1944 году. Москва: Наука, 1970, p. 203.
  5. Gregory Liedtke (2015). Lost in the Mud: The (Nearly) Forgotten Collapse of the German Army in the Western Ukraine, March and April 1944. The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, p. 228.
  6. Пономаренко Р. О. Битва За Ковель. Москва: Вече, 2014, p. 174.
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