Ponyri is an

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

in the Ponyrovsky District of the

Kursk Oblast Kursk Oblast (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Kursk. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, Kursk Oblast had a pop ...

. It has been famous for its apples, known as ''Antonovskiye Yabloki'' ( ariety In the Soviet era it largely consisted of two state farms (''

sovkhoz A sovkhoz ( rus, совхо́з, p=sɐfˈxos, a=ru-sovkhoz.ogg, syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated from , ''sovetskoye khozyaystvo''; ) was a form of state-owned farm or agricultural enterprise in the Soviet Union. It is usually contrasted w ...

i''), Ponyri 1 and 2. In English-language publications it is sometimes referred to as Ponyri Station, due to its location on the railway between

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, , ɐˈrʲɵl, a=ru-Орёл.ogg, links=y, ), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, situated on the Oka Rive ...

and

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

. Population:

Great Patriotic War

Following the Nazi invasion, Ponyri was not under threat of occupation until late October, 1941, when the German XXXXVIII Motorized Corps pushed through against minimal resistance but while enduring minimal supplies and appalling weather on its way to Kursk. Ponyri remained under German occupation until February, 1943. In the course of the Soviet winter counter-offensive on the southern half of the front, following their victory at

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

, elements of Bryansk Front's 48th and 13th Armies liberated the settlement on February 9. The Soviet advance was brought to a halt in late February with the lines several kilometres north of Ponyri, and they began to dig in, at first as a matter of course, and then more seriously as a summer German offensive was anticipated.

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk, also called the Battle of the Kursk Salient, was a major World War II Eastern Front battle between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in southwestern Russia during the summer of 1943, resulting in ...

The north shoulder of the Kursk salient was defended by

13th Army Thirteenth Army or 13th Army may refer to: * Thirteenth Army (Japan) * Japanese Thirteenth Area Army * 13th Army (Russian Empire), unit in World War I *13th Army (RSFSR), a unit in the Russian Civil War *13th Army (Soviet Union) The 13th Army (, ...

of Gen. K.K. Rokossovsky's

Central Front The Central Front was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War formed on July 24, 1941. The Central Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war. The first entity existed for just a month during the ...

in the first line. On April 21, Rokossovsky was ordered by ''STAVKA'' to evacuate the civilian population from the frontal zone to a depth of 25 km, including Ponyri, so as to adapt the evacuated towns, villages and settlements for defense. The first attacks on Ponyri came from the air on the first morning of the battle. Rokossovsky had anticipated that the main German 9th Army attack would come straight down the rail line, but in fact it struck somewhat farther west, and he scrambled to get reserves into place. The 3rd Tank Corps was deployed to the south of Ponyri in the afternoon, as well as the 3rd and 4th Guards Airborne Divisions, in support of the 307th Rifle Division. On the following days the 9th and 18th Panzer Divisions gradually pushed into Ponyri, at great cost to both sides. The German writer, Paul Carell, described it as "the Stalingrad of the Kursk salient." The 307th fiercely contested the schoolhouse, the water tower, the train and the field tractor stations. The 1023rd Rifle Regiment hung on to the high ground of Hill 253.5, just to the south of the settlement, and by July 11 the German forces were stuck fast, many kilometres from their objectives.Cross, pp. 197-88. Note that Cross mistakenly identifies the rifle regiment as the 1032nd.

References

{{Kursk Oblast Urban-type settlements in Kursk Oblast