In the memory of our people this day will remain not as an ordinary day of summer, but as the day of the beginning of the most terrible and bloody war in the history of the country and in world history.
Real photographs of June 1941.
3. Defense Hero Brest Fortress commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Infantry Division, Major Pyotr Mikhailovich Gavrilov (1900 - 1979).
P.M. Gavrilov led the defense of the Eastern Fort of the Brest Fortress from June 22 to July 23, 1941. He managed to rally around himself all the surviving soldiers and commanders of various units and units, to close the most vulnerabilities to break through the enemy. Until June 30, the fort's garrison offered organized resistance, staunchly repelling countless enemy attacks and preventing him from breaking into the fort. After the enemy used high-power aerial bombs and destroyed part of the fort's buildings, the Germans managed to break into the fort and capture most of its defenders.
From the beginning of July, Major Gavrilov and the surviving soldiers switched to the tactics of surprise attacks and attacks on the enemy. On July 23, 1941, he was seriously wounded by a shell explosion in the casemate and was captured unconscious. He spent the war years in Nazi concentration camps in Hammelburg and Revensburg, experiencing all the horrors of captivity. Liberated by Soviet troops in May 1945 at the Mauthausen concentration camp. He passed a special test and was reinstated to his military rank. But at the same time he was expelled from the party due to the loss of his party card and being in captivity, which played a negative role in his future fate. Since the fall of 1945, he was the head of the Soviet camp for Japanese prisoners of war in Siberia during the construction of the Abakan-Tayshet railway. In June 1946 he was transferred to the reserve.
In 1955, he finally found his wife and son, whom he had separated from under bombs in the first hour of the war. In 1956, the book by S.S. was published. Smirnov “Brest Fortress”, based on factual material. This event had a favorable effect on Gavrilov's fate. He was reinstated in the party and was presented with the country's highest award.
On January 30, 1957, for the exemplary performance of military duty during the defense of the Brest Fortress in 1941 and the courage and heroism shown, Pyotr Mikhailovich Gavrilov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and medal “ Golden Star».
5. The city of Molotovsk at the hour of declaration of war. Filming location: Molotovsk. Time taken: 06/22/1941.
View of Belomorsky Avenue in Molotovsk (now Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Region) at the hour of declaration of war. In the distance you can see a crowd of people in front of the city House of Soviets, where the first volunteers were registered. The photo was taken from house No. 17 Belomorsky Prospekt.
On Sunday morning, June 22, 1941, a Komsomol-youth cross-country race was held in Molotovsk. At noon, V. Molotov made a speech, in which he officially announced the treacherous attack of Germany. The performance was repeated several times. Some time later, Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR were issued, announcing the mobilization of those liable for military service born in 1905-1918 in the Arkhangelsk Military District and introducing martial law in the Arkhangelsk region. By evening, a mobilization point was deployed in Molotovsk. During the first three days of its work, in addition to those liable for military service, 318 volunteers arrived.
The city was founded just five years before the start of the war, but its contribution to the overall Victory was significant. Over 14 thousand Molotovites went to the front, over 3.5 thousand died on the battlefields. The 296th reserve ski regiment, the 13th separate ski brigade, and the 169th cadet rifle brigade were formed in the city. In Molotovsk there was a strategic port for receiving Lend-Lease convoys. In the city, 741 thousand rubles were collected for the “Arkhangelsk Collective Farmer” tank column, 150 thousand rubles for the “Molotov Worker” air squadron, 3,350 thousand rubles for two cash and clothing lotteries, a loan for 17 thousand rubles was realized, by February 1942, 1,740 thousand rubles were collected in cash and 2,600 thousand in bonds for the defense fund. By October 1, 1941, 9,920 items were received from Molotovites to be sent to the front; sending gifts to Red Army soldiers was widespread. The city housed three evacuation hospitals of the Karelian Front (No. 2522, 4870 and 4871). In the winter of 1942, part of the team of the Leningrad Komsomol Theater arrived in the city along the “road of life”; in total, over 300 evacuees were accepted. Throughout the war, Molotov Plant No. 402 built large submarine hunters of Project 122A, completed construction of submarines of the "M" and "S" types, repaired Soviet and foreign ships, fired 122,262 armor-piercing shells, 44,375 high-explosive bombs, 2,027 sets of sea trawls.
Source: Severodvinsk City Museum of Local Lore.
9. Senior nurse of the surgical department of the Brest Fortress hospital Praskovya Leontyevna Tkacheva with the wives and children of the Red Army commanders, surrounded by German soldiers. Time taken: 06/25-26/1941.
11. Soviet amphibious tanks T-38, destroyed in the Brest Fortress. Location: Brest, Belarus, USSR. Time taken: June-July 1941
In the front is a vehicle manufactured in 1937 with an armored hull and turret produced by the Podolsk plant named after Ordzhonikidze. In the background is another T-38 tank. The tanks are located on the territory of the citadel next to the White Palace. The military equipment of the 75th separate reconnaissance battalion of the 6th rifle division of the 28th was also located there. rifle corps 4th Army of the Western Front, whose armored vehicle fleet was located on the bank at the fork of the Mukhavets River.
12. German firing points in the Brest Fortress. Time taken: 06/22/1941
After the failure of the surprise capture of the Brest Fortress, the Germans had to dig in. The photo was taken on the North or South Island.
14. Registration of volunteers for the Red Army at the Oktyabrsky District Military Commissariat of Moscow. Duty officer of the Oktyabrsky district military registration and enlistment office P.N. Gromov reads the statement of volunteer M.M. Grigorieva.
Filming location: Moscow. Time taken: 06/23/1941.
16. Soviet light tank BT-7, destroyed on June 23, 1941 during the battle in the Alytus area. Location: Lithuania, USSR. Time taken: June-July 1941.
Vehicle from the 5th tank division 3rd Mechanized Corps of the 11th Army Northwestern Front. In the background is a damaged German Pz.Kpfw tank. IV Ausf. E from the 7th Panzer Division of the 39th Motorized Corps of the 3rd Panzer Group of General Hoth.
19. Flight commander of the 145th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Senior Lieutenant Viktor Petrovich Mironov (1918-1943) with the I-16 fighter.
V.P. Mironov had been in the Red Army since 1937. After graduating from Borisoglebsk VAUL in 1939, he was sent to the 145th IAP. Participant of the Soviet-Finnish war.
Participant of the Great Patriotic War from the first days.
By September 1941, the flight commander of the 145th IAP, senior lieutenant Mironov, had flown 127 combat missions and personally shot down 5 enemy aircraft in 25 air battles. Bombing and assault strikes caused great damage to enemy personnel and equipment.
On June 6, 1942 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Since November 1942 - as part of the 609th IAP, commander of the 2nd AE. Until February 1943, he made 356 combat missions, shot down 10 enemy aircraft personally and 15 in a group.
20. Soldiers and commanders of the Red Army inspect the captured German tank Flammpanzer II. Time of shooting: July-August 1941.
Soldiers and commanders of the Red Army inspect the captured Flammpanzer II flamethrower tank in the Western direction. On the fender there is an installation of smoke grenade launchers. By June 22, 1941, the 100th and 101st flamethrower tanks were equipped with Flammpanzer II flamethrower tanks. tank battalions Wehrmacht
22. Hero of the Soviet Union, Senior Lieutenant Mikhail Petrovich Galkin (02/12/1917 – 07/21/1942).
Born at the Kochkar mine in the Chelyabinsk region, in a working-class family. He graduated from the workers' school and worked as a mechanic. Since 1936 in the ranks of the Red Army. In 1937 he graduated from the Voroshilovgrad Military Aviation Pilot School. Participant of the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939 - 1940. Made 82 combat missions. In May 1940 he was awarded the Order of the Red Star.
Since 1941, Lieutenant M.P. Galkin has been in the active army. He fought on the Southern, Southwestern and Volkhov fronts. Until August 1941 he served as part of the 4th IAP, flying I-153 and I-16. At the beginning of August 1941, on the Crimean Isthmus, he was seriously wounded in one of the air battles. By August 1941, flight commander of the 4th Fighter Aviation Regiment (20th Mixed Aviation Division, 9th Army, Southern Front) Lieutenant M.P. Galkin made 58 combat missions, conducted 18 air battles, and shot down 5 enemy aircraft.
From February to July 1942 he fought in the 283rd IAP, where he flew the Yak-7. In January 1942 he was sent to Novosibirsk for instructor work. On March 27, 1942, for courage and military valor shown in battles with enemies, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. From June 1942 he fought in Volkhov Front joined the 283rd IAP, where he flew the Yak-7. He won a few more victories.
On July 21, 1942 he died in an air battle in the Kirishi area. Buried in mass grave in the urban village of Budogoshch, Kirishi district, Leningrad region.
Awarded the orders of Lenin, Red Banner, Red Star. A street is named after him high school in the city of Plast, Chelyabinsk region. In the city of Plast, on the Alley of Heroes and the urban village of Budogoshch, a bust was erected.
23. Soviet heavy tank KV-2 from the 6th tank regiment of the 3rd tank division of the 1st mechanized corps of the Northwestern Front, destroyed on July 5, 1941 in the battle for the city of Ostrov. Filming location: Pskov region. Time taken: June-August 1941.
The vehicle was manufactured in June 1941, serial number B-4754. The surviving decommissioning certificates about the KV-2 tank No. 4754 said the following: “The tank was hit - the caterpillar was broken, which fell off. The shell pierced the side armor of the transmission and damaged the control rods and side clutches, making the tank impossible to move. Since the damaged and burning tanks clogged the passage of the bridge, withdrawal was impossible due to the damaged control of the tank and the fallen tracks, and the tank was not able to turn around. The battalion commander gave the order to get out of the tank, while he himself remained in the vehicle to disable the tank. The further fate of Captain Rusanov is still unknown; the rest of the crew returned to the unit. The battlefield was immediately occupied by the enemy and the evacuation of the remaining vehicle from the battlefield became impossible.”
Tank crew: vehicle commander Captain Rusanov, driver Zhivoglyadov, gun commander Osipov, radio operator Volchkov, loader Hantsevich.
24. Commander of the 1st squadron of the 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force, Mikhail Vasilyevich Avdeev (09/15/1913 - 06/22/1979) next to his Yak-1 fighter. Time taken: 1942.
From June 1941 he took part in the battles of the Great Patriotic War. He fought the entire war in the 8th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which in April 1942 was renamed the 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. At first he was deputy squadron commander, from January 1942 he became squadron commander and from April 1943 to November 1944 he commanded a regiment. By June 1942, Mikhail Avdeev had made more than three hundred combat sorties, shot down 9 enemy aircraft in 63 air battles, and also caused significant damage to enemy troops with assault strikes.
By Decree No. 858 of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 14, 1942, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism of the guard, Captain Mikhail Vasilyevich Avdeev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and medal " Golden Star".
25. An abandoned Soviet tracked tractor STZ-5-NATI exploded in the forest. Behind the tractor is an abandoned heavy tank KV-2, produced in May - June 1941, from one of the tank divisions of the 7th Mechanized Corps of the Western Front.
Filming location: Belarus, USSR
Time taken: summer 1941.
26. Squadron commander of the 788th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment, Captain Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kozlov (1917 - 2005).
In June-September 1941 N.A. Kozlov is the deputy commander of the air squadron of the 162nd Fighter Aviation Regiment. He fought on the Western (June 1941) and Bryansk (August-September 1941) fronts. Participated in defensive battles in Belarus and in the Bryansk direction. On September 24, 1941, a German Yu-88 bomber was shot down by a ramming attack from its MiG-3 fighter. During the ramming he was seriously wounded in the left leg and landed by parachute. Until December 1941, he was undergoing treatment in a hospital in the city of Ulyanovsk.
In February-July 1942 - deputy commander of the air squadron of the 439th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment, in July-September 1942 - commander of the air squadron of the 788th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment. He fought as part of the Stalingrad air defense region (April-September 1942). Provided air cover for military installations in the cities of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), participated in Battle of Stalingrad. On May 25, 1942, near the city of Morozovsk (Rostov region), it made a second ramming attack, shooting down a German Ju-88 bomber. He made an emergency landing on his MiG-3 fighter and was slightly wounded. He spent several days in a hospital in Stalingrad.
In October 1942 - September 1943 - commander of the air squadron of the 910th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment. He fought as part of the Voronezh-Borisoglebsk (October 1942 - June 1943) and Voronezh (June-July 1943) air defense regions, the Western Air Defense Front (July-September 1943). Provided air cover for railway junctions in Voronezh region, participated in the Battle of Kursk.
For the courage and heroism shown in battles with the Nazi invaders, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 14, 1943, Captain Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kozlov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
Since August 1943 - commander of the 907th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment. He fought as part of the Western (August 1943 - April 1944) and Northern (April-October 1944) air defense fronts. Provided air cover for front-line communications during the Battle of the Dnieper, the liberation of Right Bank Ukraine, the Korsun-Shevchenko, Belarusian and Berlin operations.
In total, during the war he made 520 combat missions on I-16, MiG-3, Yak-1, Yak-7B and La-5 fighters, in 127 air battles he personally shot down 19 and 3 enemy aircraft as part of a group.
27. Soviet tanks KV-2 and T-34, stuck while crossing the Maidansky stream. Filming location: Lviv region, Ukraine. Time taken: 06/25/1941.
A KV-2 heavy tank and a T-34 medium tank of the 1940 model with an L-11 cannon from, presumably, the 16th tank regiment of the 8th tank division of the 4th mechanized corps of the Red Army, stuck and then knocked out on June 23, 1941 during time to cross the Maidansky stream. The tanks fought in the area of the village of Stary Maidan, Radekhiv district, Lviv region of Ukraine.
28. German soldiers examine a Soviet KV-2 tank stuck in the Maidansky stream. Filming location: Lviv region, Ukraine. Filming time: 06/23-29/1941
A heavy tank KV-2 from, presumably, the 16th tank regiment of the 8th tank division of the 4th mechanized corps of the Red Army, stuck and then knocked out on June 23, 1941 while crossing the Maidansky stream. The tanks fought in the area of the village of Stary Maidan, Radekhiv district, Lviv region of Ukraine. It can be seen that the vehicle was under anti-tank artillery fire.
29. Flight commander of the 2nd Guards Air Force Regiment Northern Fleet senior lieutenant Vladimir Pavlovich Pokrovsky (1918 - 1998).
V.P. Pokrovsky took part in the Great Patriotic War from June 1941, first as part of the 72nd mixed, from October 1941 - as part of the 78th fighter air regiment of the Northern Fleet, and then again in the 72nd mixed (then 2nd Guards mixed) air regiment. On December 26, 1942, while protecting an allied convoy, he shot down german fighter, but he himself was shot down. He parachuted out and was rescued from the waters of the Kola Bay by Allied sailors. By May 1943, V.P. Pokrovsky made 350 combat missions, conducted 60 air battles, personally shot down 13 aircraft and in the group - 6 enemy aircraft.
For the exemplary performance of command assignments on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 24, 1943, Guard Captain Pokrovsky Vladimir Pavlovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
Since the summer of 1943 - commander of a training squadron at the course for commanders of the Naval Air Force units.
30. A German soldier poses on a T-34 tank that was shot down on the road in the Dubno area
Tank T-34 tank with L-11 cannon, manufactured in October 1940. Serial number 682-35. The tank belonged to the 12th Tank Division of the 8th Mechanized Corps of the 26th Army of the Southwestern Front. Shot down in the Dubno area, possibly the south-eastern entrance to Dubno. According to the inscription on the right side, the tank was hit by soldiers of the 111th Infantry Division and the Hermann Goering regiment. Presumably, the tank was hit on June 29, 1941.
31. Soviet T-34 tank, shot down near the road in the Dubno area.
Soviet medium tank T-34 with L-11 cannon, manufactured in October 1940, knocked out near the road near the south-eastern entrance to Dubno. The serial number of the tank is 682-35. The vehicle belonged to the 12th Tank Division of the 8th Mechanized Corps of the 26th Army of the Southwestern Front. According to the autograph on the right side, the tank was hit by soldiers of the 111th Infantry Division and the Hermann Goering regiment. The tank may have been hit on June 29, 1941. In the background, on the right side of the photo, you can see a damaged T-26 tank. From this angle, another damaged T-26 tank is visible. The same car from a different angle with the deceased tanker.
32. A Soviet T-34 tank knocked out on the road and a dead Soviet tanker
A Soviet T-34 tank knocked out on the road and a dead Soviet tankman next to it. Tank T-34 tank with L-11 cannon, manufactured in October 1940. Serial number 682-35. The tank belonged to the 12th Tank Division of the 8th Mechanized Corps of the 26th Army of the Southwestern Front. Shot down in the Dubno area, possibly the south-eastern entrance to Dubno. According to the autograph on the starboard side, it was shot down by soldiers of the 111th Infantry Division and the Hermann Goering Regiment. The tank may have been hit on June 29, 1941. In the middle of the road lies the driver's hatch.
33. Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot of the 3rd squadron of the 158th air defense fighter regiment, junior lieutenant Mikhail Petrovich Zhukov (1917-1943), poses for a photograph in front of his I-16 fighter.
M.P. Zhukov had been part of the regiment since October 1940. He made his first combat mission on June 22, 1941. On June 29, 1941, in his third combat mission, he destroyed a Junkers Ju-88 bomber with a ramming attack.
He fought in the skies of Leningrad, accompanied transport planes, covered ports on Lake Ladoga and the Volkhov hydroelectric power station. Was injured. At the end of 1941 he mastered the P-40E fighter.
January 12, 1943 M.P. Zhukov (by that time a senior lieutenant, flight commander of the 158th IAP) died in an air battle near the village of Moskovskaya Dubrovka. In total, he made 286 combat missions, conducted 66 air battles, shot down 9 enemy aircraft personally and 5 in a group.
34. Leningraders on 25th October Avenue (currently Nevsky Prospekt) near the boarded-up window of the Eliseevsky Store (the official name is “Gastronomy No. 1 “Central”).
The boards contain “TASS Windows,” which first appeared in Leningrad in grocery store windows on June 24, 1941.
35. Hero of the Soviet Union Captain Alexey Nikolaevich Katrich (1917 - 2004).
A.N. Katrich graduated from the Chuguev Military Aviation School of Pilots in 1938. He served in the Air Force as a pilot in a fighter aviation regiment (in the Moscow Military District). Participant of the Great Patriotic War: in June 1941 - June 1942 - pilot, deputy commander and commander of the air squadron of the 27th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Moscow Air Defense Zone). Participated in the defense of Moscow, the protection of the city and rear communications of the Western Front from attacks by enemy bombers. On August 11, 1941, in an air battle, he shot down an enemy Dornier Do-215 reconnaissance aircraft with a ram at an altitude of 9,000 meters, after which he landed safely at his airfield.
For the courage and heroism shown in battles, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 28, 1941, Lieutenant Alexei Nikolaevich Katrich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
In June 1942 - October 1943, Katrich was the commander of an air squadron of the 12th Guards Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment. He fought as part of the Moscow and Western Air Defense Fronts. Participated in the defense of Moscow and rear communications of the Western Front from attacks by enemy bombers. In total, during the war he made 258 combat missions on MiG-3, Yak-1 and Yak-9 fighters, in 27 air battles he personally shot down 5 and as part of a group 9 enemy aircraft (M.Yu. Bykov in his research points to 5 personal and 7 group victories). In November 1943 - January 1946 - navigator of the 12th Guards Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment, until 1944 he carried out combat duty in the air defense system of the city of Moscow.
Lieutenant-Commander Gurin commanded the destroyer Gremyashchiy on sea voyages escorting and guarding convoys, raiding operations on enemy ports and communications. Under his command, the destroyer completed 21 combat campaigns in 1941 and more than 30 in 1942. The destroyer's crew carried out 6 artillery fires on enemy troops on the coast, 4 laying minefields, participated in escorting 26 convoys, sank the German submarine "U-585" (March 30, 1942, Kildin Island area), together with a group of Soviet and British ships repelled an attack by a group of German destroyers on a convoy they were guarding (one enemy destroyer was sunk in this battle), and shot down 6 German aircraft.
In October 1942, A.I. Gurin was appointed commander of the 2nd division of the brigade destroyers Northern Fleet. From September 1944 to October 1945, he commanded the 1st destroyer division of the Northern Fleet squadron. During the Petsamo-Kirkines operation, he personally led the division during combat missions of artillery support for two naval landings and during the offensive of the forces of the Karelian Front along the coast Barents Sea. Captain 1st rank (1.09.1944).
Destroyer division under the command of Captain 1st Rank Gurin A.I. escorted allied convoys, carried out tasks to support the positions of our troops, shelled bases and searched for enemy ships and convoys. By May 1945, A.I. Gurin made over 100 different combat trips to sea and covered 79,370 nautical miles.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal to captain 1st rank Gurin Anton Iosifovich was awarded by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 8, 1945.
38. A group of Red Army soldiers who died on June 29-30, 1941 during a battle with units of the German 29th Infantry Division near the village of Ozernitsa, north of the Zelva-Slonim highway. Location: Slonim district, Belarus, USSR. Time of shooting: 06/29-30/1941.
In the background you can see a damaged T-34 tank from the 6th Mechanized Corps. In this battle, the headquarters of the 6th Mechanized Corps was ambushed.
39. Sergeant Gavriil Ivanovich Zalozny (born in 1901, right) at the Maxim machine gun. Time taken: 1941.
Gavriil Ivanovich Zalozny was drafted into the Red Army on June 26, 1941. He fought on the Western and Southwestern fronts. On September 23, 1941, he was shell-shocked and captured. Released in February 1944 and enlisted in the 230th Reserve Regiment, from July 1944 - commander of the Maxim machine gun crew of the 12th Shock Assault rifle battalion 1st shock-assault rifle regiment of the 53rd army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. Then he served in the 310th Guards Rifle Regiment.
40. Medical instructor of the 369th separate marine battalion, Chief Petty Officer E.I. Mikhailov in the Kerch region
Medical instructor of the 369th separate marine battalion of the Danube military flotilla, chief petty officer Ekaterina Illarionovna Mikhailova (Demina) (b. 1925).
In the Red Army since June 1941 (added two years to her 15 years). In the battles near Gzhatsk she was seriously wounded in the leg. She was treated in hospitals in the Urals and Baku. After recovery, from January 1942 she served on the military hospital ship "Red Moscow", which transported the wounded from Stalingrad to Krasnovodsk. There she was awarded the rank of chief petty officer and was awarded the “Excellence in the Navy” badge for her exemplary service. Among the volunteers she was enrolled as a sanitary instructor in the 369th separate battalion Marine Corps. The battalion was part of the Azov and then the Danube military flotillas. With this battalion, which later received the honorary name “Kerch Red Banner”, Mikhailova fought through the waters and shores of the Caucasus and Crimea, the Azov and Black Seas, the Dniester and the Danube, with a liberation mission - across the lands of Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Austria. Together with the soldiers of the battalion, she entered into battle, repelled enemy counterattacks, carried the wounded from the battlefield, and provided them with first aid. She was wounded three times.
On August 22, 1944, when crossing the Dniester estuary as part of the landing force, Chief Petty Officer E.I. Mikhailova was one of the first to reach the shore, provided first aid to seventeen seriously wounded sailors, suppressed the fire of a heavy machine gun, threw grenades at the bunker and destroyed over ten Nazis. December 4, 1944 E.I. Mikhailova in the landing operation to capture the port of Prahovo and the Ilok fortress (Yugoslavia), being wounded, continued to provide medical care soldiers and, saving their lives, destroyed 5 enemy soldiers with a machine gun. After recovery, she returned to duty. As part of the 369th Marine Battalion, she fought for the Imperial Bridge in the Austrian capital of Vienna. Here she celebrated the Victory on May 9, 1945.
E.I. Mikhailova - the only woman, who served in Marine Corps intelligence. She was awarded the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degrees, medals, including the Medal for Courage and the Florence Nightingale Medal.
To the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, Chief Petty Officer E.I. Mikhailova was presented in August and December 1944, but the award did not take place.
By decree of the President of the USSR dated May 5, 1990, Demina (Mikhailova) Ekaterina Illarionovna was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 11608).
In the terrible and bloody confusion of the first day of the Great Patriotic War, the exploits of those soldiers and commanders of the Red Army, border guards, sailors and pilots who, without sparing own life, repelled the onslaught of a strong and skillful opponent.
War or provocation?
On June 22, 1941, at five hours and 45 minutes in the morning, an urgent meeting began in the Kremlin with the participation of the country's top military and political leadership. There was, in fact, one question on the agenda. This full scale war or border provocation?
Pale and sleep-deprived, Joseph Stalin sat at the table, holding an empty pipe of tobacco in his hands. Addressing the People's Commissar of Defense Marshal Semyon Timoshenko and the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army General Georgy Zhukov, the de facto ruler of the USSR asked: “Is this not a provocation of the German generals?”
“No, Comrade Stalin, the Germans are bombing our cities in Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states. What kind of provocation is this? - Tymoshenko answered gloomily.
Offensive in three main directions
By this time, fierce border battles were already raging on the Soviet-German border. Events developed rapidly.
Field Marshal Wilhelm von Leeb's Army Group North was advancing in the Baltic states, breaking the battle formations of General Fyodor Kuznetsov's Northwestern Front. At the forefront of the main attack was the 56th Motorized Corps of General Erich von Manstein.
Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group South operated in Ukraine, striking with General Ewald von Kleist's First Panzer Group and Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau's Sixth Field Army between the Fifth and Sixth Armies of General Mikhail Kirponos's Southwestern Front, advancing 20 by the end of the day. kilometers.
The Wehrmacht, which numbered seven million 200 thousand people in its ranks against five million 400 thousand soldiers and commanders in the Red Army, delivered the main blow in the Western Front, which was under the command of General Dmitry Pavlov. The strike was carried out by the forces of Army Group Center under Field Marshal Feodor von Bock, which included two tank groups - the Second of General Heinz Guderian and the Third of General Hermann Hoth.
Sad picture of the day
Hanging from the south and north over the Bialystok ledge, in which the 10th Army of General Konstantin Golubev was located, both German tank armies moved under the base of the ledge, destroying the defense Soviet front. By seven o'clock in the morning, Brest, which was part of Guderian's offensive zone, was captured, but the units defending the Brest Fortress and the station fought fiercely in completely surrounded.
Actions ground troops were actively supported by the Luftwaffe, which destroyed 1,200 Red Army aircraft on June 22, many at airfields in the first hours of the war, and gained air supremacy.
General Ivan Boldin, whom Pavlov sent by plane from Minsk to restore contact with the command of the 10th Army, painted a sad picture of the day in his memoirs.
In the first 8 hours of the war, the Soviet army lost 1,200 aircraft, of which about 900 were destroyed on the ground. In the photo: June 23, 1941 in Kyiv, Grushki district.
Nazi Germany relied on a strategy of lightning war. Her plan, called “Barbarossa,” implied the end of the war before the autumn thaw. In the photo: German aircraft bomb Soviet cities. June 22, 1941.
The day after the start of the war, in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the mobilization of military personnel of 14 ages (born 1905-1918) in 14 military districts was announced. In the three remaining districts - Transbaikal, Central Asia and the Far East - mobilization was carried out a month later under the guise of “large training camps”. In the photo: recruits in Moscow, June 23, 1941.
Simultaneously with Germany, Italy and Romania declared war on the USSR. A day later, Slovakia joined them. In the photo: a tank regiment at the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization named after. Stalin before being sent to the front. Moscow, June 1941.
On June 23, the Headquarters of the Main Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR was created. In August it was renamed the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. In the photo: columns of soldiers go to the front. Moscow, June 23, 1941.
State border The USSR from the Barents to the Black Sea on June 22, 1941 was guarded by 666 border outposts, 485 of them were attacked on the first day of the war. None of the outposts attacked on June 22 withdrew without orders. In the photo: children on the city streets. Moscow, June 23, 1941.
Of the 19,600 border guards who met the Nazis on June 22, more than 16,000 died in the first days of the war. In the photo: refugees. June 23, 1941.
At the start of the war, three groups of German armies were concentrated and deployed near the borders of the USSR: “North”, “Center” and “South”. They were supported from the air by three air fleet. In the photo: collective farmers are building defensive lines in the front line. July 01, 1941.
Army North was supposed to destroy the USSR forces in the Baltic states, as well as capture Leningrad and Kronstadt, depriving the Russian fleet of its support bases in the Baltic. The “Center” ensured the offensive in Belarus and the capture of Smolensk. Army Group South was responsible for the offensive in western Ukraine. In the photo: the family leaves their home in Kirovograd. August 1, 1941.
In addition, in the territory of occupied Norway and in Northern Finland, the Wehrmacht had a separate army “Norway”, which was tasked with capturing Murmansk, the main naval base of the Northern Fleet Polyarny, the Rybachy Peninsula, as well as the Kirov Railway north of Belomorsk. In the photo: columns of fighters are moving to the front. Moscow, June 23, 1941.
Finland did not allow Germany to strike the USSR from its territory, but received instructions from the German Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces to prepare for the start of the operation. Without waiting for an attack, on the morning of June 25, the Soviet command launched a massive air strike on 18 Finnish airfields. After this, Finland declared that it was in a state of war with the USSR. In the photo: graduates of the Military Academy named after. Stalin. Moscow, June 1941.
On June 27, Hungary also declared war on the USSR. On July 1, at the direction of Germany, the Hungarian Carpathian Group of Forces attacked the Soviet 12th Army. In the photo: nurses provide assistance to the first wounded after the Nazi air raid near Chisinau, June 22, 1941.
From July 1 to September 30, 1941, the Red Army and the USSR Navy carried out the Leningrad strategic operation. According to the Barbarossa plan, the capture of Leningrad and Kronstadt was one of the intermediate goals, followed by an operation to capture Moscow. In the photo: a flight of Soviet fighters flies over Peter and Paul Fortress in Leningrad. 01 August 1941.
One of the largest operations in the first months of the war was the defense of Odessa. The bombing of the city began on July 22, and in August Odessa was surrounded by land by German-Romanian troops. In the photo: one of the first German planes shot down near Odessa. July 1, 1941.
The defense of Odessa delayed the advance of the right wing of Army Group South for 73 days. During this time, German-Romanian troops lost over 160 thousand troops, about 200 aircraft and up to 100 tanks. In the photo: scout Katya from Odessa talks with soldiers while sitting in a cart. Krasny Dalnik district. 01 August 1941.
The original Barbarossa plan called for the capture of Moscow within the first three to four months of the war. However, despite the successes of the Wehrmacht, increased resistance from Soviet troops prevented its implementation. The German advance was delayed by the battles for Smolensk, Kyiv and Leningrad. In the photo: anti-aircraft gunners defend the sky of the capital. August 1, 1941.
The Battle of Moscow, which the Germans called Operation Typhoon, began on September 30, 1941, with the main forces of Army Group Center leading the offensive. In the photo: flowers for wounded soldiers in a Moscow hospital. June 30, 1941.
The defensive stage of the Moscow operation lasted until December 1941. And only at the beginning of 1942 the Red Army went on the offensive, throwing back German troops 100-250 kilometers back. In the photo: the rays of searchlights from air defense troops illuminate the sky of Moscow. June 1941.
At noon on June 22, 1941, the whole country listened to the radio message of the USSR People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov, who announced the German attack. “Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours,” that was final phrase appeals to the Soviet people.
"Explosions shake the ground, cars burn"
“Trains and warehouses are burning. Ahead, to our left, there are large fires on the horizon. Enemy bombers are constantly scurrying in the air.
Skirting settlements, we are approaching Bialystok. Further we go, worse it becomes. There are more and more enemy aircraft in the air... Before we had time to move 200 meters away from the plane after landing, the noise of engines was heard in the sky. Nine Junkers appeared, they were descending over the airfield and dropping bombs. Explosions shake the ground and cars burn. The planes on which we had just arrived were also engulfed in fire...” Our pilots fought to the last opportunity. Early in the morning of June 22, the deputy squadron commander of the 46th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Senior Lieutenant Ivanov Ivanov, at the head of a trio of I-16s, took on several He-111 bombers. One of them was shot down, and the rest began to drop bombs and turn back.
At this moment, three more enemy vehicles appeared. Considering that the fuel was running out and the cartridges had run out, Ivanov decided to ram the leading German plane and, going into its tail and making a slide, sharply hit the enemy’s tail with his propeller.
Soviet fighter I-16
Exact time of air ramming
A bomber with crosses crashed five kilometers from the airfield that was being defended Soviet pilots, but Ivanov was also mortally wounded when the I-16 fell on the outskirts of the village of Zagortsy. The exact time of the ram - 4:25 - was recorded by the pilot's wristwatch, which stopped when it hit the instrument panel. Ivanov died on the same day in a hospital in the city of Dubno. He was only 31 years old. In August 1941, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
At five hours and 10 minutes in the morning, junior lieutenant Dmitry Kokarev from the 124th Fighter Aviation Regiment took his MiG-3 into the air. His comrades took off to the left and right to intercept German bombers that were attacking their field airfield in Wysokie Mazowiecki near Bialystok.
Shoot down the enemy at any cost
During a short-lived battle, the weapon on 22-year-old Kokarev’s plane malfunctioned, and the pilot decided to ram the enemy. Despite the targeted shots of the enemy gunner, the brave pilot approached the enemy Dornier Do 217 and shot it down, landing the damaged aircraft on the airfield.
The pilot, Chief Sergeant Major Erich Stockmann, and the gunner, Non-Commissioned Officer Hans Schumacher, burned to death in the downed plane. Only the navigator, the squadron commander, Lieutenant Hans-Georg Peters, and the radio operator, Sergeant Major Hans Kownacki, managed to survive after the rapid attack of the Soviet fighter, who managed to jump out with parachutes.
In total, on the first day of the war, at least 15 Soviet pilots carried out an aerial ramming attack against Luftwaffe pilots.
Fighting surrounded for days and weeks
On the ground, the Germans also began to suffer losses from the beginning of the invasion. First of all, faced with fierce resistance from the personnel of 485 attacked border outposts. According to the Barbarossa plan, no more than half an hour was allotted to capture each. In fact, the soldiers in green caps fought for hours, days and even weeks, never retreating without orders.
The neighbors also distinguished themselves - the Third Border Outpost of the same detachment. Thirty-six border guards, led by 24-year-old Lieutenant Viktor Usov, fought against a Wehrmacht infantry battalion for more than six hours, repeatedly launching bayonet counterattacks. Having received five wounds, Usov died in a trench with sniper rifle in his hands and in 1965 he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
26-year-old Lieutenant Alexey Lopatin, commander of the 13th border outpost of the 90th Vladimir-Volynsky border detachment, was also posthumously awarded the Gold Star. Conducting a perimeter defense, he fought together with his subordinates for 11 days in complete encirclement, skillfully using the structures of the local fortified area and advantageous folds of the terrain. On June 29, he managed to remove women and children from encirclement, and then, returning to the outpost, he, like his soldiers, died in an unequal battle on July 2, 1941.
Landing on the enemy shore
The soldiers of the Ninth Border Outpost of the 17th Brest Border Detachment, Lieutenant Andrei Kizhevatov, were among the most staunch defenders of the Brest Fortress, which was stormed by the 45th Wehrmacht Infantry Division for nine days. The thirty-three-year-old commander was wounded on the first day of the war, but until June 29 he continued to lead the defense of the barracks of the 333rd regiment and the Terespol Gate and died in a desperate counterattack. 20 years after the war, Kizhevatov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
On the section of 79th Izmailsky border detachment, which guarded the border with Romania, on June 22, 1941, 15 enemy attempts were repelled to cross the Prut and Danube rivers to capture Soviet territory bridgehead. At the same time, the well-aimed fire of soldiers in green caps was supplemented by targeted salvos of army artillery from the 51st Infantry Division of General Pyotr Tsirulnikov.
On June 24, the division's fighters, together with border guards and sailors of the Danube Military Flotilla, led by Lieutenant-Commander Ivan Kubyshkin, crossed the Danube and captured a 70-kilometer bridgehead on Romanian territory, which they held until July 19, when, by order of the command, the last paratroopers left for the eastern bank of the river .
Commandant of the first liberated city
The first city to be recognized as liberated from German troops was Przemysl (or Przemysl in Polish) in Western Ukraine, which was attacked by the 101st Infantry Division from the 17th Field Army of General Karl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, which was advancing on Lviv and Tarnopol.
Fierce fighting ensued over him. On June 22, Przemysl was defended for 10 hours by soldiers of the Przemysl border detachment, who then retreated after receiving the appropriate order. Their stubborn defense allowed them to gain time until the approach of the regiments of the 99th Infantry Division of Colonel Nikolai Dementyev, who the next morning, together with border guards and soldiers of the local fortified area, attacked the Germans, knocking them out of the city and holding it until June 27.
The hero of the battle was 33-year-old senior lieutenant Grigory Polivoda, who commanded a combined battalion of border guards and became the first commander whose subordinates cleared the Soviet city of the enemy. He was rightfully appointed commandant of Przemysl and died in battle on July 30, 1941.
We gained time and brought in new reserves
Following the results of the first day of the war with Russia, the Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces, General Franz Halder, noted with some surprise in his personal diary that after the initial stupor caused by the surprise of the attack, the Red Army switched to active actions. “Without a doubt, there were cases on the enemy side tactical withdrawal, albeit a messy one. There are no signs of an operational withdrawal,” the German general wrote.
Red Army soldiers go on the attack
He did not suspect that the war, which had just begun and was victorious for the Wehrmacht, would soon turn from a lightning-fast war into a life-and-death struggle between two states, and victory would not go to Germany at all.
General Kurt von Tippelskirch, who became a historian after the war, described in his works the actions of the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army. “The Russians held on with unexpected firmness and tenacity, even when they were bypassed and surrounded. By doing this, they gained time and pulled together more and more reserves from the depths of the country for counterattacks, which were also stronger than expected.”
Radio speech by the Deputy Chairman of the Council
People's Commissars USSR and People's Commissar
Foreign Affairs comrade. V.M. MOLOTOV
June 22, 1941.
CITIZENS AND CITIZENS OF THE SOVIET UNION!
The Soviet government and its head, Comrade. Stalin instructed me to make the following statement:
Today, at 4 o'clock in the morning, without presenting any claims to the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed our cities - Zhitomir, Kiev - from their planes , Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others, and more than two hundred people were killed and wounded. Enemy aircraft raids and artillery shelling were also carried out from Romanian and Finnish territory. 
Construction of a Soviet anti-tank ditch in Smolensk region.
This unheard of attack on our country is a treachery unparalleled in the history of civilized nations. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that a non-aggression treaty was concluded between the USSR and Germany and the Soviet government fulfilled all the terms of this treaty in all good faith. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that during the entire period of validity of this treaty the German government was never able to make a single claim against the USSR for the implementation of the treaty. All responsibility for this predatory attack on the Soviet Union falls entirely on the Germans fascist rulers. 
Crashed Soviet planes. 1941
After the attack, the German ambassador in Moscow, Schulenburg, at 5:30 a.m. made me, as the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, a statement on behalf of his government that the German government had decided to go to war against the USSR in connection with the concentration of Red Army units in the eastern German border. 
German soldiers approach newly destroyed Soviet BT-2 tanks.
In response to this, I stated on behalf of the Soviet government that before last minute The German government did not make any claims against the Soviet government that Germany carried out an attack on the USSR, despite the peace-loving position of the Soviet Union, and that thereby fascist Germany was the attacking party. 
Destroyed soviet tanks.
On behalf of the government of the Soviet Union, I must also state that at no point did our troops and our aviation allow the border to be violated, and therefore the statement made by Romanian radio this morning that Soviet aviation allegedly fired at Romanian airfields is a complete lie and provocation. The entire today’s declaration by Hitler, who is trying to retroactively concoct incriminating material about the Soviet Union’s non-compliance with the Soviet-German Pact, is the same lie and provocation. 
Soviet girl volunteers are sent to the front. Summer 1941.
Now that the attack on the Soviet Union has already taken place, the Soviet government has given our troops an order to repulse the bandit attack and expel German troops from the territory of our homeland. This war is not forced on us by the German people, not by German workers, peasants and intellectuals, whose suffering we well understand, but by a clique of bloodthirsty fascist rulers of Germany who enslaved the French, Czechs, Poles, Serbs, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Greece and other peoples. 
June 22, 1941 near the bridge over the San River near the city of Yaroslav. At that time, the San River was the border between German-occupied Poland and the USSR.
The Government of the Soviet Union expresses its unshakable confidence that our valiant army and navy and brave falcons Soviet aviation They will honorably fulfill their duty to their homeland, to the Soviet people, and deal a crushing blow to the aggressor. 
The first Soviet prisoners of war, under the supervision of German soldiers, head west along the bridge over the San River near the city of Yaroslav.
This is not the first time our people have had to deal with an attacking, arrogant enemy. At one time, our people responded to Napoleon’s campaign in Russia with a Patriotic War and Napoleon was defeated and came to his collapse. The same will happen with the arrogant Hitler, who declared new trip against our country. The Red Army and all our people will once again wage a victorious patriotic war for the homeland, for honor, for freedom. 
Nazi troops are fighting near the walls of the Brest Fortress 1941
The Government of the Soviet Union expresses its firm confidence that the entire population of our country, all workers, peasants and intellectuals, men and women, will treat their duties and their work with due consciousness. Our entire people must now be united and united as never before. Each of us must demand from ourselves and from others discipline, organization, dedication worthy of the present Soviet patriot to provide all the needs of the Red Army, navy and air force to ensure victory over the enemy. 
A machine-gun crew of German rangers fires from an MG-34 machine gun. Summer 1941, Army Group North. In the background, the crew is covering the StuG III self-propelled gun.
The government calls on you, citizens of the Soviet Union, to rally your ranks even more closely around our glorious Bolshevik Party, around our Soviet government, around our great leader Comrade. Stalin.
Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours. 
Red Army soldiers on the battlefield near Kiev 1941
Plan, Barbarossa,
Fuhrer and supreme commander armed forces
National Defense Department
No. 33408/40. Sov. secret.
Fuhrer Headquarters
12/18/40
9 copies
9th copy
DIRECTIVE No. 21
The German armed forces must be prepared to defeat Soviet Russia in a short campaign even before the war against England is over. (Variant "Barbarossa").
Ground forces must use for this purpose all units at their disposal, with the exception of those necessary to protect the occupied territories from any surprises. 
Colonel General Richthofen in a group of officers discussing the situation 1941
The task of the air force is to release such forces to support the ground forces in the eastern campaign so that a speedy conclusion can be expected ground operations and at the same time limit to a minimum the destruction of the eastern regions of Germany by enemy aircraft. However, this concentration of Air Force efforts in the East must be limited by the requirement that all theaters of combat and areas where our military industry is located are reliably protected from enemy air raids and offensive actions against England and especially against its sea communications do not weaken at all. 
Soldiers of a battery of naval heavy artillery under the command of Denninburg, participating in the defense of Odessa, at a gun in 1941.
Major Efforts navy must also, of course, concentrate against England during the eastern campaign.
If necessary, I will give the order for the strategic deployment of the Armed Forces against the Soviet Union eight weeks before the scheduled start of operations. 
Participants in the defense of the city of Odessa build barricades
Preparations that require a longer time, since they have not yet begun, should begin now and be completed by May 15, 1941.
It must be of decisive importance that our intentions to attack are not recognized.
Preparatory activities of the highest command authorities should be carried out based on the following basic provisions.
General idea
The main forces of the Russian ground forces located in Western Russia, must be destroyed in bold operations through deep, rapid extension of tank wedges. Retreat of combat-ready enemy troops to wide open spaces Russian territory must be prevented. 
German General Kruger in the vicinity of Leningrad
By rapid pursuit a line must be reached from which the Russian military air force will not be able to carry out raids on Imperial Germany.
The ultimate goal of the operation is to create a barrier against Asian Russia along the common line Volga, Arkhangelsk. Thus, if necessary, the last industrial area remaining with the Russians in the Urals can be paralyzed with the help of aviation.
During these operations the Russian Baltic Fleet will quickly lose its base and thus be unable to continue the fight.
Effective actions of the Russian air force must be prevented by our powerful strikes at the very beginning of operations. 
Workers of the Kirov plant go to the front
Allies and their missions
In the war against Soviet Russia on the flanks of our front we can count on the active participation of Romania and Finland.
The Supreme Command of the Armed Forces will, at the appropriate time, agree and determine in what form the armed forces of both countries will be subordinated upon entering the war. to the German command.
The task of Romania will be to support with selected troops the offensive of the southern flank of the German troops, at least at the beginning of the operation, pin down the enemy where German forces will not operate, and otherwise carry support service V rear areas.
Finland must cover the concentration and deployment of a separate German northern group of forces (part of the 21st group), coming from Norway. The Finnish army will conduct combat operations together with these troops. 
A battery fires at the enemy on the outskirts of Moscow
In addition, Finland will be responsible for the capture of the Hanko Peninsula.
It should be considered possible that Swedish railways and highways will be made available for use at the start of the operation. German group troops intended for action in the North.
Carrying out operations
A) Ground forces. (According to operational plans reported to me).
The theater of military operations is divided by the Pripyat swamps into northern and southern parts. The direction of the main attack should be prepared north of the Pripyat marshes. Two army groups should be concentrated here.
The southern of these groups, which is the center common front, has the task of attacking with especially strong tank and motorized formations from the Warsaw region and north of it and splitting up enemy forces in Belarus. In this way, the prerequisites will be created for the rotation of powerful units of mobile troops to the north in order to, in cooperation with the Northern Army Group, advancing from East Prussia in the general direction of Leningrad, destroy the enemy forces operating in the Baltic states. Only after completing this urgent task, which should be followed by the capture of Leningrad and Kronstadt, should operations begin to capture Moscow, an important center of communications and military industry. 
Soviet prisoners of war in a transit camp
And only the unexpectedly rapid collapse of the Russian resistance could justify the formulation and implementation of these two tasks simultaneously.
The most important task of the 21st Group also during the Eastern Campaign remains the defense of Norway.
The forces available in addition to this (the mountain corps) should be used in the North primarily for the defense of the Petsamo region and its ore mines, as well as the Arctic Ocean route. Then these forces must, together with Finnish troops, advance to the Murmansk railway in order to disrupt the supply of the Murmansk region via land communications.
Whether such an operation will be carried out by German troops (2-3 divisions) from the Rovaniemi area and south of it depends on Sweden’s readiness to provide its railways at our disposal for the transport of troops. 
Soviet prisoners of war harnessed to a plow (From trophy photographs confiscated from captured and killed Wehrmacht soldiers)
The main forces of the Finnish army will be tasked with pinning down as much as possible in accordance with the advance of the German northern flank by attacking to the west or on both sides of Lake Ladoga.
a larger number of Russian troops, as well as capture the Hanko Peninsula.
The army group operating south of the Pripyat Marshes must, through concentric attacks, with its main forces on the flanks, destroy the Russian troops located in Ukraine, even before the latter reach the Dnieper. 
A German general inspects a captured Soviet anti-tank gun
To this end main blow applied from the Lublin region in the general direction of Kyiv. At the same time, troops located in Romania cross the river. The rod is in the lower reaches and carries out deep coverage of the enemy. The Romanian army will have the task of shackling the Russian forces located inside the pincers being formed.
At the end of the battles to the south and north of the Pripyat swamps, during the pursuit the following tasks should be ensured:
In the south - timely occupy the militarily and economically important Donetsk basin. 
A group of German soldiers near a pile of Soviet canned food captured as a trophy
In the north - quickly reach Moscow. The capture of this city means both politically and economic relations a decisive success, not to mention the fact that the Russians would lose their most important railway junction.
B) Air Force. Their task will be to, as far as possible, impede and reduce the effectiveness of counteraction by the Russian air force and support the ground forces in their operations in decisive directions.
This will be necessary primarily on the front of the central army group and on the main direction of the southern army group.
Russian railways and communications routes, depending on their importance for the operation, should be cut or disabled through the capture of important objects closest to the combat area (river crossings) by bold actions of airborne troops. 
German machine gunners and machine gunner. Behind the back of the second crew number is a replaceable barrel in a case. Narva, 1941
In order to concentrate all forces to fight against enemy aircraft and to directly support ground forces, raids on military industrial facilities should not be carried out during the operation. Such raids, and primarily against the Urals, will become the order of the day only after the completion of maneuver operations.
B) Navy. In the war against Soviet Russia, he will have the task, while ensuring the defense of his coast, to prevent the enemy’s navy from breaking through from Baltic Sea. Considering that after reaching Leningrad the Russian Baltic Fleet will lose its last strong point and finds itself in a hopeless position, major naval operations should be avoided until then. 
Destroyed Soviet airfield. District of Minsk.
After neutralizing the Russian fleet, the task will be to ensure complete freedom maritime communications in the Baltic Sea, in particular supply by sea to the northern flank of the ground forces (mine sweeping).
All orders that will be given by the Commanders-in-Chief on the basis of this directive must clearly proceed from the fact that we are talking about precautionary measures in case Russia changes its present position towards us. 
Column of German troops. Ukraine, July 1941.
The number of officers involved in initial preparations should be as limited as possible. The remaining employees, whose involvement is necessary, should be involved in the work as late as possible and become familiar only with those particular aspects of training that are necessary for the performance of official duties of each of them individually.
Otherwise, there is a danger of serious political and military complications arising as a result of the disclosure of our preparations, the dates of which have not yet been set.
I expect from the gentlemen commanders-in-chief oral presentations their future intentions based on this Directive. 
The dead Soviet soldiers, as well as civilians - women and children. Bodies dumped in a roadside ditch like household trash; Dense columns of German troops are calmly moving past along the road.
Report to me about the planned preparatory activities of all types of armed forces and the progress of their implementation through the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces.
Signed: Hitler
Correct: captain (signature)
Supreme Command of the Armed Forces
Operational management headquarters.
National Defense Division (Quartermaster IV)
No. 44125/41. Sov. secret. Fuhrer Headquarters
13.3.41
Base. Directive of the headquarters of the operational leadership (country defense department/1) No. 33408/40 dated 12/18/40 Sov. secret. 
Refugees in the Pskov region.
TROOPS CONCENTRATION DIRECTIVE
(plan "Barbarossa")
General tasks.
Should Russia change her present attitude towards Germany, extensive preparatory measures should be taken as a precaution to enable Soviet Russia to be defeated in a short-lived campaign before the war against England is over. 
German soldiers in a street battle in the Baltic states.
Operations must be carried out in such a way that, through a deep penetration of tank troops, the entire mass of Russian troops located in Western Russia is destroyed.
At the same time, it is necessary to prevent the possibility of the retreat of combat-ready Russian troops into the vast interior regions of the country.
Enemy position. 
Dead Soviet tank crews and tank landing soldiers at the gates of the border outpost. Tank – T-26.
It should be considered most likely that the Russians, using field fortifications reinforced in certain areas on the new and old state borders, as well as numerous water barriers convenient for defense, will enter the battle in large formations west of the Dnieper and Western Dvina rivers. Russian command will attach particular importance to maintaining its air and naval bases in the Baltic provinces as long as possible and maintaining its southern flank adjacent to the Black Sea through the use of large forces.
If operations south and north of the Pripyat marshes develop unfavorably, the Russians will try to stop the German offensive along the line of the Dnieper and Western Dvina rivers. 
German collection point for Soviet captured equipment and weapons. On the left are Soviet 45 mm anti-tank guns, then a large number of Maxim heavy machine guns and DP-27 light machine guns, on the right are 82-mm mortars. Summer 1941.
Already when eliminating German breakthroughs, as well as during possible attempts to withdraw endangered troops to the Dnieper and Western Dvina line, one should take into account the possibility of offensive actions by large Russian formations using tanks.
The enemy grouping is detailed in application Za-g and the certificate "Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" dated January 1, 1941.
The idea. 
Damaged T-26.
The first intention of the main command of the ground forces, in accordance with the above task, is to split the front of the main forces of the Russian army, concentrated in the western part of Russia, with quick and deep strikes of powerful mobile groups north and south of the Pripyat swamps and, using this breakthrough, to destroy the disunited groups enemy troops.
South of the Pripyat marshes, Army Group "South" under the command of Field Marshal Rundstedt, using a swift strike from powerful tank formations from the Lublin region, cuts off Soviet troops located in Galicia and Western Ukraine from their communications on the Dnieper, seizes crossings across the river. The Dnieper is in the Kyiv region and to the south of it and thus provides freedom of maneuver to solve subsequent tasks in cooperation with troops operating to the north, or to carry out new tasks in the south of Russia. 
Tank Pz.Kpfw.38(t) from the German 7th Panzer Division on the march. A burning Soviet tank is visible on the left.
North of the Pripyat marshes Army Group Center advances under the command of Field Marshal von Bock. Having brought powerful tank formations into battle, it makes a breakthrough from the Warsaw and Suwalki area in the direction of Smolensk; then turns the tank troops to the north and, together with Army Group North (Field Marshal von Leeb), advancing from East Prussia in the general direction of Leningrad, destroys the Soviet troops located in the Baltic states. Then the troops of Army Group North and the mobile forces of Army Group Center, together with the Finnish army and German troops sent from Norway for this purpose, finally deprive the enemy of the last defensive capabilities in the northern part of Russia. As a result of these operations, freedom of maneuver will be ensured to carry out subsequent tasks in cooperation with German troops advancing in southern Russia. 
A German column passes an abandoned Soviet artillery park.
In the event of a sudden and complete defeat of Russian forces in the north of Russia, the turn of troops to the north disappears and the question of an immediate attack on Moscow may arise.
The start of the offensive will be given with a single order along the entire front from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea (day “B”, time - “U”). 
A damaged German armored personnel carrier in the Smolensk region. August 1941
The basis for conducting combat operations in this operation can be the principles that proved themselves in the Polish campaign. At the same time, however, it should be taken into account that, along with concentrating forces on the directions of the main attacks, it is necessary to attack the enemy also on other sectors of the front.
Only in this way will it be possible to prevent the timely withdrawal of combat-ready enemy forces and destroy them west of the Dnieper-Zap line. Dvina To an even greater extent than hitherto, one should expect the impact of enemy aircraft on ground forces, especially since the German air forces will not be fully involved in operations against Russia. Troops must also be prepared for the possibility that the enemy may use chemical agents.
Tasks of army groups and armies: 
The German light tank Pz.Kpfw destroyed by Soviet artillery. II Ausf. C.
A) Army Group South advances with its reinforced left flank in the general direction of Kyiv, with mobile units ahead. The general task is to destroy Soviet troops in Galicia and Western Ukraine further west of the river. Dnieper and timely capture crossings on the Dnieper in the Kyiv area and to the south, thereby creating the preconditions for continuing operations east of the Dnieper. The offensive should be prepared and carried out in such a way that mobile troops were concentrated for a strike from the Lublin area in the direction of Kyiv. 
Soviet refugees walk past an abandoned BT-7A tank.
In accordance with this common task The army and tank group, guided by the direct instructions of the command of Army Group South, must ensure the implementation of the following tasks:
The 11th Army provides cover for Romanian territory against Soviet invasion, keeping in mind Romania's vital importance to the war effort. During the offensive of the troops of Army Group South, the 11th Army pins down the enemy forces opposing it, creating the false impression of a strategic deployment of large forces, and, as the further situation develops, by delivering a number of strikes in cooperation with aviation against the retreating enemy troops, it prevents the organized withdrawal of the Soviet troops for the Dniester.
The takeoff of German Junkers Ju-87 dive bombers from a field airfield in the USSR.
The 1st Tank Group, in cooperation with the troops of the 17th and 6th armies, breaks through the defenses of enemy troops concentrated near the border between Rava-Russkaya and Kovel and, moving through Berdichev, Zhitomir, promptly reaches the river. Dnieper in the Kyiv region and to the south. Subsequently, without wasting time, according to the instructions of the command of Army Group "South", it continues its offensive along the Dnieper in a south-eastern direction in order to prevent withdrawal across the river. Dnieper enemy group operating in Western Ukraine, and destroy it with a blow from the rear.
German infantry passes by broken Soviet vehicles.
The 17th Army breaks through enemy defenses on the border northwest of Lvov. Quickly advancing with her strong left flank, she pushes the enemy back in a southeast direction and destroys him. Subsequently, this army, using the successful advance of the troops of the tank group, immediately enters the Vinnitsa, Berdichev region and, depending on the situation, continues the offensive in a southern or southeastern direction.
Red Army soldiers surrender to SS soldiers.
The 6th Army, in cooperation with formations of the 1st Tank Group, breaks through the enemy front in the area of the city of Lutsk and, covering the northern flank of the army group from possible attacks from the Pripyat swamps, if possible, with its main forces, with maximum speed, follows to Zhitomir troops of the tank group. The army troops must be ready, on instructions from the command of the army group, to turn their main forces to the southeast, west of the river. Dnieper, in order to, in cooperation with the tank group, prevent the retreat of the enemy group operating in Western Ukraine beyond the Dnieper and destroy it.
A rally at the Leningrad Kirov plant about the beginning of the war.
b) Army Group Center, concentrating its main forces on the flanks, splits the enemy forces in Belarus. Mobile formations advancing south and north of Minsk timely connect in the Smolensk region and thus create the preconditions for the interaction of large forces of mobile forces with the troops of Army Group North in order to destroy enemy forces located in the Baltic states and in the Leningrad region.
As part of this task, according to the instructions of the command of Army Group Center, tank groups and armies perform the following tasks:
Battle on the streets of the city of Nemirov (Lvov region, Ukraine) on June 24, 1941, destroyed German SIG 33 guns of the 13th company of the 211th infantry regiment of the 71st infantry division are visible in the background.
The 2nd Tank Group, interacting with the 4th Army, breaks through enemy border fortifications in the Kobrin area and to the north and, quickly advancing to Slutsk and Minsk, in cooperation with the 3rd Tank Group advancing to the area north of Minsk, creates the preconditions for destruction enemy troops located between Bialystok and Minsk. Its further task: in close cooperation with the 3rd Panzer Group, to capture the terrain in the Smolensk region and south of it as quickly as possible, to prevent the concentration of enemy forces in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, thereby preserving Army Group Center freedom of action to carry out subsequent tasks.
Artillerymen of the 29th motorized division of the Wehrmacht from an ambush shot Soviet tanks on the side with a 50-mm PaK 38 cannon. The closest one, on the left, is the T-34 tank. Belarus, 1941.
The 3rd Tank Group, in cooperation with the 9th Army, breaks through enemy border fortifications north of Grodno, rapidly advances to the area north of Minsk and, in cooperation with the 2nd Tank Group advancing from the southwest towards Minsk, creates the preconditions for the destruction of enemy forces located between Bialystok and Minsk. The subsequent task of the 3rd Panzer Group: working closely with the 2nd Panzer Group, to quickly reach the Vitebsk area and further north, to prevent the concentration of enemy forces in the upper Dvina area, thereby ensuring the army group freedom of action in carrying out subsequent tasks. 
The first day of the war in Przemysl (today the Polish city of Przemysl) and the first invaders killed on Soviet soil (soldiers of the 101st Light Infantry Division). The city was occupied by German troops on June 22, but was liberated the next morning by Red Army units and border guards and held until June 27.
The 4th Army, delivering the main blow on both sides of Brest-Litovsk, crosses the river. Zap. Bug and thereby opens the way for the 2nd Tank Group to Minsk. The main forces are developing an offensive across the river. Shara at Slonim and further south, using the success of tank groups, in cooperation with the 9th Army, destroys enemy troops located between Bialystok and Minsk. Subsequently, this army follows the 2nd Tank Group, covering its left flank from the Pripyat swamps, and captures the crossing of the river. Berezina between Bobruisk and Berezino and crosses the river. The Dnieper near Mogilev and to the north.
Soldiers and officers of the Red Army surrender to German tank crews.
The 9th Army, in cooperation with the 3rd Tank Group, delivers the main blow with its northern wing to the enemy group located west and north of Grodno, using the success of the tank groups, rapidly advances in the direction of Lida, Vilnius and destroys the enemy forces together with the 4th Army, located between Bialystok and Minsk. Later, following the 3rd Panzer Group, it reaches the river. Zap. Dvina near Polotsk and southeast of it.
German soldiers next to a burning Soviet village.
c) Army Group North has the task of destroying enemy forces operating in the Baltic states and capturing ports on the Baltic Sea, including Leningrad and Kronstadt, depriving the Russian fleet of its bases. Issues of joint actions with powerful mobile forces advancing on Smolensk and subordinate to Army Group Center will be clarified in a timely manner and brought to the attention of the especially high command of the ground forces.
In accordance with this task, Army Group "North" breaks through the enemy's front and, delivering the main blow in the direction of Dvinsk, advances as quickly as possible with its reinforced right flank, throwing mobile troops forward to cross the river. Zap. Dvina, goes to the area northeast of Opochka in order to prevent the retreat of combat-ready Russian forces from the Baltic states to the east and create the preconditions for further successful advance to Leningrad.
Residents of Leningrad at the display window of LenTASS “Latest News” (Sotsialisticheskaya street, building 14 - “Pravda” printing house).
As part of this task, at the direction of the command of Army Group North, the 4th Panzer Group and armies perform the following tasks:
The 4th Tank Group, together with the 16th and 18th armies, breaks through the enemy front between the lake. Vishtynetskoye and dear Tilsit, Siauliai, are moving towards the West. Dvina to the Dvinsk region and further south and seizes a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the river. Zap. Dvina Subsequently, the 4th Panzer Group reaches the area northeast of Opochka as quickly as possible in order from here, depending on the situation, to continue the offensive in a northeastern or northern direction.
German equipment on the march near the city of Yartsevo, Smolensk region.
The 16th Army, in cooperation with the 4th Panzer Group, breaks through the front of the opposing enemy and, delivering the main blow on both sides of the Ebenrode-Kaunas road, with the rapid advance of its strong right flank behind the tank corps, reaches as quickly as possible north shore R. Zap. Dvina near Dvinsk and south of it. Subsequently, this army, following the 4th Panzer Group, quickly reaches the Opochka area.
Soviet tanks abandoned after the battles near Dubno, July 1941. In the background is a T-35 (model 1938). Two white stripes on the turret are the tactical insignia of the 67th Tank Regiment of the 34th Tank Division of the 8th Mechanized Corps KOVO. In the foreground is a light tank T-26 (model 1939) - from the same division. On June 22, 1941, the division had 7 KV, 38 T-35, 238 T-26 and 25 BT.
The 18th Army breaks through the front of the opposing enemy and, delivering the main blow along the Tilsit, Riga road and to the east, quickly crosses the river with its main forces. Zap. The Dvina near Plavinas and to the south, cuts off enemy units located southwest of Riga and destroys them. Subsequently, quickly moving towards the Pskov-Ostrov line, it prevents the withdrawal of Russian troops to the area south of Lake Peipus and, at the direction of the command of Army Group North, in cooperation with tanks in the area north of Lake Peipus, clears the territory of Estonia from the enemy.
Curious German soldiers inspecting a damaged Soviet light tank BT-7. 1941 June.
June 21, 1941, 13:00. German troops receive the code signal "Dortmund", confirming that the invasion will begin the next day.
Commander of the 2nd Tank Group of Army Group Center Heinz Guderian writes in his diary: “Careful observation of the Russians convinced me that they did not suspect anything about our intentions. In the courtyard of the Brest fortress, which was visible from our observation points, they were changing the guards to the sounds of an orchestra. The coastal fortifications along the Western Bug were not occupied by Russian troops."
21:00. Soldiers of the 90th border detachment of the Sokal commandant's office detained a German serviceman who crossed the border Bug River by swimming. The defector was sent to the detachment headquarters in the city of Vladimir-Volynsky.
23:00. German minelayers stationed in Finnish ports began to mine the exit from the Gulf of Finland. At the same time, Finnish submarines began laying mines off the coast of Estonia.
June 22, 1941, 0:30. The defector was taken to Vladimir-Volynsky. During interrogation, the soldier identified himself Alfred Liskov, soldiers of the 221st Regiment of the 15th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht. He reported that at dawn on June 22 german army will go on the offensive along the entire length of the Soviet-German border. The information was transferred to higher command.
At the same time, the transmission of Directive No. 1 of the People's Commissariat of Defense for parts of the western military districts began from Moscow. “During June 22 - 23, 1941, a surprise attack by the Germans on the fronts of LVO, PribOVO, ZAPOVO, KOVO, OdVO is possible. An attack may begin with provocative actions,” the directive said. “The task of our troops is not to succumb to any provocative actions that could cause major complications.”
The units were ordered to be put on combat readiness, to secretly occupy firing points of fortified areas on the state border, and to disperse aircraft to field airfields.
Bring the directive to military units before the start of hostilities fails, as a result of which the measures specified in it are not carried out.
“I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory”
1:00. The commandants of the sections of the 90th border detachment report to the head of the detachment, Major Bychkovsky: “nothing suspicious was noticed on the adjacent side, everything is calm.”
3:05 . A group of 14 German Ju-88 bombers drops 28 magnetic mines near the Kronstadt roadstead.
3:07. Commanding Black Sea Fleet Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky reports to the Chief of the General Staff, General Zhukov: “The fleet’s VNOS [air surveillance, warning and communications] system reports the approach from the sea of a large number unknown aircraft; The fleet is in full combat readiness."
3:10. The NKGB for the Lviv region transmits by telephone message to the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR the information obtained during the interrogation of the defector Alfred Liskov.
Mobilization. Columns of fighters are moving to the front. Moscow, June 23, 1941. Anatoly Garanin/RIA Novosti
From the memoirs of the chief of the 90th border detachment, Major Bychkovsky: “Without finishing the interrogation of the soldier, I heard strong artillery fire in the direction of Ustilug (the first commandant’s office). I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory, which was immediately confirmed by the interrogated soldier. I immediately began to call the commandant by phone, but the connection was broken..."
3:30. Chief of Staff of the Western District General Klimovsky reports on enemy air raids on the cities of Belarus: Brest, Grodno, Lida, Kobrin, Slonim, Baranovichi and others.
3:33. The chief of staff of the Kyiv district, General Purkaev, reports on an air raid on the cities of Ukraine, including Kyiv.
3:40. Commander of the Baltic Military District General Kuznetsov reports on enemy air raids on Riga, Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas and other cities.
“The enemy raid has been repulsed. An attempt to strike our ships was foiled."
3:42. Chief of the General Staff Zhukov is calling Stalin and reports the start of hostilities by Germany. Stalin orders Tymoshenko and Zhukov arrive at the Kremlin, where an emergency meeting of the Politburo is convened.
3:45. The 1st border outpost of the 86th August border detachment was attacked by an enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group. Outpost personnel under command Alexandra Sivacheva, having entered into battle, destroys the attackers.
4:00. The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky, reports to Zhukov: “The enemy raid has been repulsed. An attempt to strike our ships was foiled. But there is destruction in Sevastopol.”
4:05. The outposts of the 86th August Border Detachment, including the 1st Border Outpost of Senior Lieutenant Sivachev, come under heavy artillery fire, after which the German offensive begins. Border guards, deprived of communication with the command, engage in battle with superior enemy forces.
4:10. The Western and Baltic special military districts report the beginning of hostilities by German troops on the ground.
4:15. The Nazis open massive artillery fire on the Brest Fortress. As a result, warehouses were destroyed, communications were disrupted, there is big number killed and wounded.
4:25. The 45th Wehrmacht Infantry Division begins an attack on the Brest Fortress.
The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Residents of the capital on June 22, 1941 during the radio announcement of a government message about a treacherous attack fascist Germany to the Soviet Union. Evgeniy Khaldey/RIA Novosti
“Protecting not individual countries, but ensuring the security of Europe”
4:30. A meeting of Politburo members begins in the Kremlin. Stalin expresses doubt that what happened is the beginning of a war and does not exclude the possibility of a German provocation. People's Commissar of Defense Timoshenko and Zhukov insist: this is war.
4:55. In the Brest Fortress, the Nazis manage to capture almost half of the territory. Further progress was stopped by a sudden counterattack by the Red Army.
5:00. German Ambassador to the USSR Count von Schulenburg presented to the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR Molotov“Note from the German Foreign Office to the Soviet Government,” which states: “The German Government cannot remain indifferent to the serious threat on the eastern border, therefore the Fuehrer has ordered the German Armed Forces to ward off this threat by all means.” An hour after the actual start of hostilities, Germany de jure declares war on the Soviet Union.
5:30. On German radio, the Reich Minister of Propaganda Goebbels reads out the appeal Adolf Hitler to the German people in connection with the start of the war against the Soviet Union: “Now the hour has come when it is necessary to speak out against this conspiracy of the Jewish-Anglo-Saxon warmongers and also the Jewish rulers of the Bolshevik center in Moscow... At the moment, a military action of the greatest extent and volume is taking place, what the world has ever seen... The task of this front is no longer defense individual countries, but ensuring the security of Europe and thereby saving everyone.”
7:00. Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs Ribbentrop begins a press conference at which he announces the beginning of hostilities against the USSR: “The German army has invaded the territory of Bolshevik Russia!”
“The city is burning, why aren’t you broadcasting anything on the radio?”
7:15. Stalin approves a directive to repel the attack of Nazi Germany: “The troops with all their might and means attack enemy forces and destroy them in areas where they violated the Soviet border.” Transfer of “directive No. 2” due to saboteurs’ disruption of communication lines in the western districts. Moscow does not have a clear picture of what is happening in the combat zone.
9:30. It was decided that at noon, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov would address the Soviet people in connection with the outbreak of war.
10:00. From the speaker's memories Yuri Levitan: “They’re calling from Minsk: “Enemy planes are over the city,” they’re calling from Kaunas: “The city is burning, why aren’t you broadcasting anything on the radio?” “Enemy planes are over Kiev.” Women's crying, excitement: “Is it really war?..” However, no official messages until 12:00 Moscow time on June 22 is not transmitted.
10:30. From a report from the headquarters of the 45th German division about the battles on the territory of the Brest Fortress: “The Russians are resisting fiercely, especially behind our attacking companies. In the citadel, the enemy organized a defense with infantry units supported by 35–40 tanks and armored vehicles. Enemy sniper fire resulted in heavy casualties among officers and non-commissioned officers."
11:00. The Baltic, Western and Kiev special military districts were transformed into the North-Western, Western and South-Western fronts.
“The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours"
12:00. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov reads out an appeal to the citizens of the Soviet Union: “Today at 4 o’clock in the morning, without making any claims against the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed us with our cities - Zhitomir, Kiev, Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others - with their planes, and more than two hundred people were killed and wounded. Raids by enemy planes and artillery shelling were also carried out from Romanian and Finnish territory... Now that the attack on the Soviet Union has already taken place, the Soviet government has given an order to our troops to repel the bandit attack and expel German troops from the territory of our homeland... The government calls on you, citizens and citizens of the Soviet Union, to rally our ranks even more closely around our glorious Bolshevik Party, around our Soviet government, around our great leader, Comrade Stalin.
Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours".
12:30. Advanced German units break into the Belarusian city of Grodno.
13:00.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issues a decree “On the mobilization of those liable for military service...”
“Based on Article 49, paragraph “o” of the USSR Constitution, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR announces mobilization on the territory of the military districts - Leningrad, Baltic special, Western special, Kiev special, Odessa, Kharkov, Oryol, Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Ural, Siberian, Volga, North -Caucasian and Transcaucasian.
Those liable for military service who were born from 1905 to 1918 inclusive are subject to mobilization. The first day of mobilization is June 23, 1941.” Despite the fact that the first day of mobilization is June 23, recruiting stations at military registration and enlistment offices begin to operate by the middle of the day on June 22.
13:30. Chief of the General Staff General Zhukov flies to Kyiv as a representative of the newly created Headquarters of the Main Command on the Southwestern Front.
June 22, 1945 meeting of the Normandy-Niemen regiment at Le Bourget airfield (France). From left to right: engineer-captain Nikolai Filippov, major Pierre Matras, engineer-major Sergei Agavelyan, captain De Saint-Marceau Gaston and others. Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. RIA Novosti/RIA Novosti
14:00. The Brest Fortress is completely surrounded by German troops. Soviet units blocked in the citadel continue to offer fierce resistance.
14:05. Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano states: “In view of the current situation, due to the fact that Germany declared war on the USSR, Italy, as an ally of Germany and as a member Tripartite Pact, also declares war on the Soviet Union from the moment German troops enter Soviet territory.”
14:10. The 1st border outpost of Alexander Sivachev has been fighting for more than 10 hours. Those who only had weapon and grenades, the border guards destroyed up to 60 Nazis and burned three tanks. The wounded commander of the outpost continued to command the battle.
15:00. From the notes of the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal von Bock: “The question of whether the Russians are carrying out a systematic withdrawal remains open. There is now plenty of evidence both for and against this.
What is surprising is that nowhere is any significant work of their artillery visible. Heavy artillery fire is conducted only in the northwest of Grodno, where the VIII Army Corps is advancing. Apparently, our air force has an overwhelming superiority over Russian aviation."
Of the 485 border posts attacked, not a single one withdrew without orders.
16:00. After a 12-hour battle, the Nazis took the positions of the 1st border outpost. This became possible only after all the border guards who defended it died. The head of the outpost, Alexander Sivachev, was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
The feat of the outpost of Senior Lieutenant Sivachev was one of hundreds committed by border guards in the first hours and days of the war. On June 22, 1941, the state border of the USSR from the Barents to the Black Sea was guarded by 666 border outposts, 485 of which were attacked on the very first day of the war. Not one of the 485 outposts attacked on June 22 withdrew without orders.
Hitler's command allotted 20 minutes to break the resistance of the border guards. 257 Soviet border posts held their defense from several hours to one day. More than one day - 20, more than two days - 16, more than three days - 20, more than four and five days - 43, from seven to nine days - 4, more than eleven days - 51, more than twelve days - 55, more than 15 days - 51 outpost. Forty-five outposts fought for up to two months.
06/22/1941 Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The workers of Leningrad listen to a message about the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. Boris Losin/RIA Novosti
Of the 19,600 border guards who met the Nazis on June 22 in the direction of the main attack of Army Group Center, more than 16,000 died in the first days of the war.
17:00. Hitler's units manage to occupy the southwestern part of the Brest Fortress, the northeast remained under the control of Soviet troops. Stubborn battles for the fortress will continue for weeks.
“The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox Christians for the defense of the sacred borders of our Motherland”
18:00. The Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow and Kolomna, addresses the believers with a message: “Fascist robbers attacked our homeland. Trampling all kinds of agreements and promises, they suddenly fell upon us, and now the blood of peaceful citizens is already irrigating our native land... Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. She endured trials with him and was consoled by his successes. She will not abandon her people even now... The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox Christians for their protection sacred boundaries our Motherland."
19:00. From the notes of the Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces, Colonel General Franz Halder: “All armies, except the 11th Army of Army Group South in Romania, went on the offensive according to plan. The offensive of our troops, apparently, came as a complete tactical surprise to the enemy along the entire front. Border bridges across the Bug and other rivers were everywhere captured by our troops without a fight and in complete safety. The complete surprise of our offensive for the enemy is evidenced by the fact that the units were taken by surprise in a barracks arrangement, the planes were parked at airfields, covered with tarpaulins, and the advanced units, suddenly attacked by our troops, asked the command about what to do... The Air Force command reported, that today 850 enemy aircraft have been destroyed, including entire squadrons of bombers, which, having taken off without fighter cover, were attacked by our fighters and destroyed.”
20:00. Directive No. 3 of the People's Commissariat of Defense was approved, prescribing Soviet troops go on a counteroffensive with the task of defeating Nazi troops on the territory of the USSR with further advance into enemy territory. The directive ordered to take possession by the end of June 24 Polish city Lublin.
06/22/1941 Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. June 22, 1941 Nurses provide assistance to the first wounded after a Nazi air raid near Chisinau. Georgy Zelma/RIA Novosti
“We must provide Russia and the Russian people with all the help we can.”
21:00. Summary of the Red Army High Command for June 22: “At dawn on June 22, 1941, regular troops of the German army attacked our border units on the front from the Baltic to the Black Sea and were held back by them during the first half of the day. In the afternoon, German troops met with the advanced units of the field troops of the Red Army. After fierce fighting, the enemy was repulsed with heavy losses. Only in the Grodno and Kristinopol directions did the enemy manage to achieve minor tactical successes and occupy the towns of Kalwaria, Stoyanuv and Tsekhanovets (the first two are 15 km and the last 10 km from the border).
Enemy aircraft attacked a number of our airfields and settlements, but everywhere it met decisive resistance from our fighters and anti-aircraft artillery, which inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. We shot down 65 enemy aircraft.”
23:00. Message from the Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill to the British people in connection with the German attack on the USSR: “At 4 o'clock this morning Hitler attacked Russia. All his usual formalities of treachery were observed with scrupulous precision... suddenly, without a declaration of war, even without an ultimatum, German bombs fell from the sky on Russian cities, German troops violated Russian borders, and an hour later the German ambassador, who just the day before had generously lavished his assurances on the Russians in friendship and almost an alliance, paid a visit to the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs and declared that Russia and Germany were at war...
No one has been more staunchly opposed to communism over the past 25 years than I have been. I will not take back a single word that was said about him. But all this pales in comparison to the spectacle unfolding now.
The past, with its crimes, follies and tragedies, recedes. I see Russian soldiers as they stand on the border native land and guard the fields which their fathers have plowed since time immemorial. I see them guarding their homes; their mothers and wives pray - oh, yes, because at such a time everyone prays for the preservation of their loved ones, for the return of their breadwinner, patron, their protectors...
We must provide Russia and the Russian people with all the help we can. We must call on all our friends and allies in all parts of the world to pursue a similar course and pursue it as steadfastly and steadily as we will, to the very end.”
June 22 came to an end. There were still 1,417 days ahead of the worst war in human history.
The Federal Security Service of Russia has declassified a large number of documents from Soviet and Western intelligence services, our army headquarters, border control agencies and NKVD units, revealing many dramatic and heroic pages of the first months fascist aggression in USSR.
Stalin did not believe the Corsican
Recently, the West has been actively reviving the myth, fabricated by Goebbels, that the Great Patriotic War was actually provoked by the leadership of the USSR. Hitler, they say, was forced to launch only a preventive strike. But this myth does not stand up to criticism, since there is a lot of evidence to the contrary. One of them is a letter from Hitler to Mussolini dated June 21, 1941, which was transferred to the FSB by the Italian intelligence services.
“Duce!
I am writing you this letter at the moment when nervous anticipation ended with the adoption of the most difficult decision in my life...
Until now, England has waged its wars with the help of continental countries. After the destruction of France, British warmongers turn all eyes to where they tried to start the war: the Soviet Union. Behind these states stands the North American Union in a position of instigator and wait-and-see.
Actually, all available Russian troops are located on our borders. With the onset of warm weather, defensive work is being carried out in many places... The situation in England is bad. The will to fight is fueled only by hopes for Russia and America. We do not have the ability to eliminate America. But to exclude Russia is in our power. I hope that we will soon be able to provide Ukraine with a common food supply for a long time.
Cooperation with the USSR weighed heavily on me. I am happy to be freed from this moral burden."
From this letter, an unbiased reader will certainly understand that Hitler started the war intrinsic motivation and not at all as a result of a mythical external provocation.
The fact that the leadership of the USSR not only did not strive for war, but rejected as provocative any information about preparations for it on the part of Germany, quite obviously follows from Stalin’s inadequately complacent position in 1940-1941.
It is known with what skepticism he reacted to the alarming reports of Richard Sorge and other Soviet intelligence officers who warned the Soviet leadership about the impending German attack on the Soviet Union. Here is another typical document.
“The NKVD of the USSR reports the following intelligence data received from Berlin.
1. Our agent “Corsican”, in a conversation with an officer of the headquarters of the High Command, learned that at the beginning of next year Germany will start a war against the Soviet Union. A preliminary step towards the start of military operations against the USSR will be the military occupation of Romania by the Germans, preparations for which are now underway and should supposedly take place within the next few months.
The purpose of the war is to separate part of the Soviet Union from European territory The USSR from Leningrad to the Black Sea and the creation on this territory of a state entirely dependent on Germany. According to these plans, a “German-friendly government” was to be created in the rest of the Soviet Union.
2. An officer of the headquarters of the High Command (department of military attaches), the son of the former Minister of Colonies, told our source No. 3 (former Russian prince, connected with military German and Russian aristocratic circles) that, according to information received by him at the headquarters of the High Command, in about six Germany will start a war against the Soviet Union within months."
(October 1940).
Stalin, having read this message, summoned Beria. He, knowing the mood of the “Boss,” declared: “I will drag this “Corsican” to Moscow for disinformation and put him in prison.” The secret pseudonym “Corsican” was used by an employee of the German Ministry of Economy, one of the leaders of the underground anti-fascist organization in Berlin "Red Chapel" Arvid Harnack. In 1942, he was arrested and executed by the Gestapo. Stalin posthumously awarded him the Order of the Red Banner of Battle. But then, in 1940, he didn’t believe The Corsican.
Distrust in one's own intelligence is one of the reasons for the notorious “suddenness,” which resulted in numerous casualties and confusion on the fronts at the beginning of the war. Here are some documents showing this.
"Top secret
Report from the Deputy Head of the 3rd Directorate of the USSR NPO F. Ya. Tutushkin about the losses of the Air Force of the North-Western Front in the first days of the war.
State Defense Committee
Comrade Stalin
Due to the unpreparedness of the Air Force units of the Pribvo Air Force for military operations, the lack of management and inactivity of some commanders of air divisions and regiments, bordering on criminal actions, about 50% of the aircraft were destroyed by the enemy during raids on airfields.
The withdrawal of units from enemy air strikes was not organized. There were no anti-aircraft defenses for airfields, and at those airfields where there were assets there were no artillery shells.
The leadership of the combat operations of the air units by the commanders of the 57th, 7th and 8th air divisions, as well as the headquarters of the Front and District Air Forces, was extremely poor; there was almost no communication with the air units from the beginning of hostilities.
Aircraft losses on the ground for the 7th and 8th Air Divisions alone amount to 303 aircraft.
The situation is similar for the 6th and 57th air divisions.
Such losses of our aviation are explained by the fact that for several hours after the attack by enemy aircraft, the District command forbade us to fly out and destroy the enemy. District Air Force units entered the battle late, when a significant part of the aircraft had already been destroyed by the enemy on the ground.
The relocation to other airfields took place unorganized, each division commander acted independently, without instructions from the District Air Force, they landed wherever they wanted, as a result of which 150 vehicles accumulated at some airfields.
Thus, at the Pilzino airfield, the enemy, having discovered such a concentration of aircraft, carried out a raid by one bomber on June 25 of this year. destroyed 30 aircraft.
Airfield camouflage has still not received much attention. The order of the NPO on this issue is not being implemented (especially regarding the 57th Air Division - division commander Colonel Katichev and the 7th Air Division - division commander Colonel Petrov), the headquarters of the Front and District Air Forces are not taking any measures.
IN given time air units of the Air Force of the North-Western Front are incapable of active combat operations, since they consist of only a few combat vehicles: 7th Air Division - 21 aircraft, 8th Air Division - 20, 57th Air Division - 12.
The crews, left without material, were idle and are only now heading for materiel, which is arriving extremely slowly...
In the District warehouses there is a shortage of spare parts for aircraft and aircraft engines (MiG planes, VISH-22E and VISH-2 propellers, 3 MGA spark plugs, BS cartridges and other parts)
Deputy Head of the 3rd Directorate of NGOs of the USSR Tutushkin."
By June 22, 1941, the enemy concentrated 4,980 combat aircraft along the western borders of the Soviet Union in three strategic directions. In the very first hours of the war, he launched a series of massive attacks on airfields in the western border districts.
26 airfields of the Kyiv, 11 airfields of the Baltic special districts and 6 airfields of the Odessa military district were subjected to air raids. As a result, these counties suffered heavy losses in aircraft. The greatest damage was caused to the Western Special District, where the Germans dealt the main blow. If on the first day of the war the entire Red Army lost about 1,200 aircraft, then this district alone lost 738 aircraft.
The main reason for this situation was that the Soviet military leadership failed to fully implement the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated February 25, 1941 “On the reorganization of the aviation forces of the Red Army.” According to this resolution, it was planned to form 25 departments within a year aviation divisions and more than 100 new aviation regiments and equip half of them with new types of aircraft. At the same time, the aviation rear was being restructured on a territorial basis.
However, by the beginning of the war, the deployment of aviation and the restructuring of rear aviation on a territorial basis were not completed. By June 22, 1941, only 19 new aviation regiments had been formed, 25 air divisions had not completed their formation, and the flight personnel were undergoing retraining. There was a shortage of new equipment, maintenance and repair equipment. The development of the airfield network lagged behind the deployment of aviation. Aircraft in service with the Air Force different designs, most of them had low speed and weak weapons. The new aircraft (MiG-3, Yak-1, LaGG-3, Pe-2, Il-2, etc.) were not inferior in combat capabilities to the aircraft of the Nazi army, and in a number of indicators they were superior to them. However, their arrival in the Air Force began shortly before the war, and by June 22, 1941, there were only 2,739 of them. The incoming aircraft were, as a rule, located crowdedly and were not dispersed among field and other airfields, being a target for enemy aircraft.
In the Red Army at the beginning of the war, there was an acute shortage of anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons. As a result, our troops and airfields found themselves defenseless against both tank attacks and enemy air strikes.
The state of affairs in the Red Army Air Force was significantly influenced by the belated delivery of the directive to the command of the military districts on bringing the troops to full combat readiness. Some military units and units learned about the contents of the directive after the start of hostilities.
The prevailing opinion at that time that there would be no war, “that Hitler was provoking us” and we “should not succumb to provocation” also had a negative impact. Even when the war had already begun, some commanders believed that it was not a war, but an incident.
But, despite the heavy losses, the Soviet pilots showed great courage, bravery and mass heroism. On the first day of the war, they flew 6 thousand sorties, inflicted significant damage on advancing enemy tank formations and their aircraft, and shot down over 200 enemy aircraft in air battles.
Order No. 270: “Not a step back!”
The beginning of the war turned out to be catastrophic for our aviation. Things were no better in the rifle units.
“Special message of the NKVD of the USSR No. 41/303 to the GKO, the General Staff of the Red Army and the NKO of the USSR on the investigation of the causes of large losses of the 199th Infantry Division
On July 6, in the Novo-Miropol area, the 199th Infantry Division was defeated, suffering heavy losses in people and equipment.
In connection with this, a special department of the Southwestern Front carried out an investigation, as a result of which it was established:
3 July Commander Southwestern Front ordered the 199th Infantry Division to occupy and firmly hold the southern front of the Novograd-Volyn fortified area by the morning of July 5. The division command carried out this order belatedly. Units of the division took up defense later than the specified period; in addition, food for the soldiers was not organized during the march. People, especially the 617th Infantry Regiment, arrived in the defense area exhausted.
After occupying the defense area, the division command did not conduct reconnaissance of the enemy forces and did not take measures to blow up the bridge across the river. The incident occurred in the central defense sector, which gave the enemy the opportunity to transfer tanks and motorized infantry. Due to the fact that the command did not establish contact between the division headquarters and the regiments, on July 6, the 617th and 584th rifle regiments acted without any guidance from the division commands.
During the panic that created in the units during the enemy's attack, the command was unable to prevent the flight that had begun. The division headquarters fled. Division commander Alekseev, deputy. commander for political affairs Korzhev and the beginning. Division headquarters Herman abandoned the regiments and fled to the rear with the remnants of the headquarters.
Through the fault of Korzhev and German, party documents, blank forms of party tickets, seals of party and Komsomol organizations and all staff documents were left to the enemy.
Division commander Colonel Alekseev, deputy. division commander for political affairs, regimental commissar Korzhev and the beginning. division headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Herman, were arrested and tried by a military tribunal.
Deputy people's commissar Internal Affairs of the USSR Abakumov".
The 199th Division is not an isolated case. Many units retreated in disarray in June-July 1941. And only a powerful iron hand could stop them. This is how the first “draconian” order appeared.
“Order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR I.V. Stalin to the military councils of fronts and armies to bring to trial by a military tribunal persons of middle and senior command staff who leave positions without an order from the military command
In order to decisively fight against alarmists, cowards, and defeatists from the command staff who arbitrarily leave their positions without orders from the high command,
I order:
to allow the military councils of the active armies to put on trial in a military tribunal persons of middle and senior command, up to and including the battalion commander, who are guilty of the crimes mentioned above.
People's Commissar of Defense I. Stalin."
After this, Stalin signed an even tougher order No. 270, popularly known as “Not a step back!” In accordance with it, even the families of those who committed crimes at the front were subjected to repression.
And although the situation began to gradually stabilize, already in July a threat hung over the Russian capital itself.
“Message from the NKVD of the USSR No. 2210/B to the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army G. K. Zhukov about plans German command for the capture of Moscow and Leningrad July 14, 1941
According to the head of the Leningrad Directorate of the NKGB, the following information was obtained from prisoners by means of operational equipment: German pilots in prison:
2. At this time, enemy aircraft are carefully studying and photographing the approaches to Leningrad and mainly airfields.
3. Raids German aviation will be held in Leningrad big amount planes and should begin on Tuesday, i.e. from July 15th.
The head of the UNKGB informed comrade. Voroshilov and Zhdanov.
People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR L. Beria."
The enemy will be defeated!
And yet, even in those difficult days, the contours of future victories were already beginning to emerge. The bulk of the fighters and commanders showed the greatest courage and heroism, atoning for the mistakes of politicians with their blood.
From the combat log of the border troops of the Leningrad District (from June 22 to July 11, 1941):
“The head of the 5th outpost of the 5th KPO, junior lieutenant Khudyakov, a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), got caught with personnel the outpost was surrounded by several times the numerically superior enemy, being wounded, he did not leave the battlefield, but, as befits the son of a socialist Motherland, continued to command the outpost. By skillfully organizing rifle and machine-gun fire, he managed to remove the outpost from encirclement with a small number of casualties of his soldiers, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. This behavior at this critical moment began. Khudyakov's outpost says only one thing: that at that moment he was guided by only one feeling - this is a feeling of love for his mother Motherland, for the party of Lenin-Stalin and a sense of responsibility for the work entrusted to him. Red Army soldiers of the 8th outpost of the same detachment Kornyukhin, Vorontsov, Tolstoshkur and Dergaputsky, graduates of the Leningrad Komsomol, brave and courageous border guards, fulfilled their combat mission with honor. Under heavy enemy fire, they crawled to the road along which 5 enemy tanks were supposed to move, skillfully disabled two tanks, thereby making it easier for their unit to complete the main task.
... The deputy head of the outpost for political affairs, V.I. Konkov, at the time of an attack by superior enemy forces on the outpost’s defense area, being seriously wounded in the leg and arm, refused to leave the battlefield.
Unable to move, he ordered the Red Army soldiers to bring him a light machine gun.
Courageously overcoming the pain from his wounds, he accurately shot at the advancing enemy. At the time of the critical situation of the outpost, the slogans “For the Motherland!”, “For Stalin!” managed to inspire the fighters, to raise their faith in victory over the enemy..."
Such heroic examples then became a symbolic guarantee that, despite the tangible losses of the first weeks of the war, the Soviet soldier, after four difficult years of fighting, would still reach the citadel of fascism and hoist the Victory Banner over its ruins.
Yuri Rubtsov - colonel, member of the Russian Association of Historians of the Second World War