The Donbas strategic offensive was a military campaign fought in the

Donets Basin The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Done ...

from 17 July to 2 August 1943, between the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

armed forces on the Eastern Front of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The Germans contained the Soviet offensive in its northern portion after initial gains and pushed the southern portion back to its starting point.

Battle

In July 1943, while the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history ...

was raging to the north, two German

armies An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Army Group South Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group So ...

in the Donets Basin confronted two Soviet army groups on a 660-kilometer front. Stavka launched two offensives on 17 July in the Donets basin, involving 474,220 men and 1,864

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

s and assault guns. The Izyum–Barvenkovo offensive against the 1st Panzer Army consisted of 202,430 Soviet troops as well as 1,109 tanks and assault guns. Air support was provided by the

17th Air Army The 17th Air Army () was an Air army of the Red Air Force and Soviet Air Forces from 1942. World War II It was formed in October (Bonn et al.: November) 1942 on the basis of the Air Forces of the Southwestern Front. Bonn et al. say that it inc ...

. The Soviets established

bridgehead In military strategy, a bridgehead (or bridge-head) is the strategically important area of ground around the end of a bridge or other place of possible crossing over a body of water which at time of conflict is sought to be defended or taken over ...

s several kilometers deep but were stopped by a German counteroffensive led by two Panzer Divisions. After ten days the Soviets called off the operation, having lost 38,690 men. The Mius offensive deployed 271,790 men with 737 tanks and assault guns in four field armies as well as the

8th Air Army The 8th Air Army was a military formation of the Soviet Air Forces, active from around 1942 to 1949. It was formed June 13, 1942, order of the NKO number 00119 on June 9, 1942, on the basis of the Air Forces of the Southwestern Front. Since it ...

against the 11 heavily under-strength divisions of the German 6th Army. The Soviets achieved a penetration 15 kilometers deep and 20 kilometers wide, alarming the German High Command. After initial interference from

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

in delaying the movement of German reinforcements, a counteroffensive deploying 258 operational tanks in five Panzer and

Panzergrenadier ''Panzergrenadier'' (), abbreviated as ''PzG'' (WWII) or ''PzGren'' (modern), meaning '' "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Grenadier"'', is a German term for mechanized infantry units of armoured forces who specialize in fighting from and in conjun ...

divisions, including the SS divisions '' Das Reich'' and ''

Totenkopf ''Totenkopf'' (, i.e. ''skull'', literally "dead person's head") is the German word for the skull and crossbones symbol. The "skull and crossbones" symbol is an old international symbol for death, the defiance of death, danger, or the dead, as ...

'', was launched on 30 July. The German counterattack was backed by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

's IV Air Corps, providing close air support and

air interdiction Air interdiction (AI), also known as deep air support (DAS), is the use of preventive tactical bombing and strafing by combat aircraft against enemy targets that are not an immediate threat, to delay, disrupt or hinder later enemy engagement of ...

against the Red Army. The attack achieved immediate success, encircling five Soviet divisions on the second day. A wild, general rout of the Soviet armies to the

Mius The Mius (, ) is a river in Eastern Europe that flows through Ukraine and Russia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Миус< ...

followed. On 2 August, the Germans reached the Mius at Dmytrivka, regaining their positions after inflicting at least 61,070 casualties on the Soviets, of which 15,303 were listed as killed or missing. Actual Soviet losses were far higher, as 6th Army took 17,762 prisoners, more than the Soviet total for killed and missing. Operationally, the Germans stopped the attacks of two Soviet army groups in their tracks and inflicted at least 99,760 casualties on the Red Army, while losing more than 21,369 men themselves. Strategically, the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

failed in its objectives but achieved an indirect success by forcing the transfer of German armored forces from the Kursk salient, smoothing the ground for Operation Rumyantsev, the Soviet attack on

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

, which was launched on 3 August. The Germans were forced once again to redeploy their most battle-worthy mechanized divisions to contain this more immediate threat, which the Soviets exploited by launching a successful offensive in the Donets region on 13 August, deploying 1,053,000 men.

Citations

Bibliography

* {{cite book , last1 = Frieser , first1 = Karl-Heinz , author-link1 = Karl-Heinz Frieser , first2 =Klaus , last2 = Schmider , first3 =Klaus , last3 = Schönherr , first4 = Gerhard , last4 = Schreiber , first5 = Kristián , last5 = Ungváry , author-link5 = Krisztián Ungváry , first6 =Bernd , last6=Wegner , work = Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg ermany and the Second World War , volume = VIII , title = Die Ostfront 1943/44 – Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten , trans-title = The Eastern Front 1943–1944: The War in the East and on the Neighbouring Fronts , publisher = Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt , location = München , year = 2007 , isbn = 978-3-421-06235-2 , language = German Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War Military operations of World War II involving Germany Strategic operations of the Red Army in World War II Donbas 1943 in Ukraine July 1943 events August 1943 events