4th Ukrainian Front
In January - February 1945, the front carried out the Western Carpathian operation, as a result of which they were liberated southern regions Poland, a significant part of Czechoslovakia, and in March - early May - the Moravian - Ostrava operation, during which it was cleared of German - fascist invaders Moravska - Ostrava industrial area and conditions have been created for advancement in central part Czechoslovakia. The front ended the fighting in Prague operation, as a result of which the defeat was completed armed forces fascist Germany, the territory of Czechoslovakia was completely liberated and with the active support of military squads (May Uprising of the Czech people of 1945), its capital was Prague. In July 1945, the 4th Ukrainian Front was disbanded, its control was turned to the formation of the control of the Carpathian Military District. Commanders:
Tolbukhin F.I. (October 1943 - May 1944), army general;
Petrov I. E. (August 1944 - March 1945), Colonel General, Army General from the end of October 1944;
Eremenko A.I. (March - July 1945), army general.
Members of the Military Council:
Shchadenko E. A. (October 1943 - January 1944), Colonel General;
Subbotin N. E. (January - May 1944), major general, from April 1944 lieutenant general;
The Ukrainian Front (First, Second, Third and Fourth Ukrainian Fronts) had great importance to liberate the territory Soviet Union from the invaders. It was the troops of these fronts that liberated most of Ukraine. And after that, Soviet troops liberated most countries from occupation with a victorious march of Eastern Europe. The troops of the Ukrainian fronts also took part in the capture of the capital of the Reich, Berlin.
First Ukrainian Front
On October 20, 1943, the Voronezh Front became known as the First Ukrainian Front. The front took part in several important offensive operations of the Second World War.
The soldiers of this particular front, having carried out the Kyiv offensive operation, were able to liberate Kyiv. Later, in 1943-1944, front troops carried out the Zhitomir-Berdichev, Lvov-Sandomierz and other operations to liberate the territory of Ukraine.
After this, the front continued its offensive in the territory of occupied Poland. In May 1945, the front took part in the operations to capture Berlin and liberate Paris.
Commanded the front:
- General
- Marshall G.
Second Ukrainian Front
The Second Ukrainian Front was created from parts of the Steppe Front in the fall (October 20) 1943. Front troops successfully carried out an operation to create an offensive bridgehead on the banks of the Dnieper (1943), controlled by the Germans.
Later, the front carried out the Kirovograd operation, and also took part in the Korsun-Shevchenko operation. Since the fall of 1944, the front has been involved in the liberation of European countries.
He carried out the Debrecen and Budapest operation. In 1945, front troops completely liberated the territory of Hungary, most Czechoslovakia, some parts of Austria, and its capital Vienna.
The front commanders were:
- General, and later Marshal I. Konev
- General, and later Marshal R. Malinovsky.
Third Ukrainian Front
The Third Ukrainian Front was renamed Southwestern Front 10/20/1943. His soldiers took part in the liberation of the territory of Ukraine from the Nazi invaders.
Front troops carried out Dnepropetrovsk (1943), Odessa (1944), Nikopol-Krivoy Rog (1944), Yasso-Kishenevsk (1944) and other offensive operations.
Also, soldiers of this front took part in the liberation from the Nazis and their allies European countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Austria, Hungary.
Commanded the front:
- General and later Marshal R. Malinovsky
- General and later Marshal.
Fourth Ukrainian Front
The Fourth Ukrainian Front was created on October 20, 1943. It was renamed Southern Front. Front units carried out several operations. We completed the Melitopol operation (1943), and successfully carried out the operation to liberate Crimea (1944).
At the end of spring (05.16.) 1944, the front was disbanded. However, on August 6 of the same year, it was formed again.
The front conducted strategic operations in the Carpathian region (1944), and took part in the liberation of Prague (1945).
Commanded the front:
- General F. Tolbukhin
- Colonel General, and later General I. Petrov
- General A. Eremenko.
Thanks to the successful offensive operations of all Ukrainian fronts, Soviet army was able to defeat a strong and experienced enemy, liberate her land from invaders and assist the captured peoples of Europe in liberation from the Nazis.
30.07.2016 13:42
On July 30, 1944, an order was signed by the Headquarters on the creation of the 4th Ukrainian Front, which would complete fighting participation in the Prague strategic operation in the victorious May 1945.
During the Lviv-Sandomierz strategic operation that began in mid-July 1944, our troops reached the foothills of the Carpathians by the end of the month. The offensive in the Carpathian Mountains required special training troops, their equipment and weapons. Therefore, on July 30, 1944, Headquarters Supreme High Command decided to form for an offensive in the Carpathians separate front, which received the name 4th Ukrainian.
Previously, a front with this name already existed - in the fall of 1943 the Southern Front was renamed that way. And in the spring of 1944, the 4th Ukrainian Front of the first formation participated in the liberation from German occupiers Crimea. After the liberation of the peninsula, the 4th Ukrainian Front was disbanded, its units were transferred to the reserves of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.
According to the order of the Headquarters of July 30, 1944, the new 4th Ukrainian Front was created on August 5. Thus, it was this front that became the last front created during the Great Patriotic War.
The front was headed by Colonel General Ivan Efimovich Petrov, who at the beginning of the war commanded the defense of Odessa and was one of the leaders heroic defense Sevastopol. Parts of the left wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front were transferred to the new front - the 1st Guards and 18th Armies, the 17th Guards rifle corps, 8th Air Army and other formations and units various genera troops.
The Headquarters directive signed by Stalin to the commander of the 4th Ukrainian Front dated July 30, 1944 read: “The front troops should continue the offensive with the task of capturing and firmly holding the passes through the Carpathian ridge and subsequent access to the Hungarian valley.”
Already on the next day of its existence, the 4th Ukrainian Front achieved noticeable success - the western Ukrainian city of Drohobych, an important communications hub and strong point enemy defense, covering the approaches to the passes through the Carpathians. The occupation of Drohobych by our troops deprived Hitler of a noticeable part of the Carpathian oil.
Therefore, by order of the Headquarters on August 6, 1944, front commander Ivan Petrov was announced: “Today, August 6, at 10 p.m., the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, will salute the valiant troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front, which captured the city of Drohobych, with twenty artillery salvoes from two hundred and twenty-four guns. For excellent military operations, I express my gratitude to the troops led by you who took part in the battles for the liberation of the city of Drohobych.”
Due to the peculiarities of the geography of Central and Eastern Europe, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front until the end of the Great Patriotic War had to operate mainly in mountainous areas in the territory Western Ukraine and Slovakia. The front troops first had to fight through a huge mountain range Eastern Carpathians, act in an extraordinary difficult conditions mountainous wooded area. Therefore, the front command took a set of measures to prepare troops for such battles.
All previous experience of operations in similar conditions was studied and “Organizational instructions for preparing troops for operations in the mountains” were published, as well as “Instructions for troops operating in mountainous and wooded areas.” All headquarters and formations of the front conducted exercises on relevant topics, for example: “Breaking through enemy defenses in the mountains of reinforced rifle division", "The offensive of the intensified rifle regiment with the aim of capturing the pass”, “Capture of heights in conditions of limited visibility using envelopment and bypass”, “Attack of a reinforced rifle company on the top of a mountain in conditions of limited visibility”.
The divisions of the 4th Ukrainian Front were taken in turn to the rear for training and equipment. The troops withdrawn to the second echelons were continuously engaged in combat training for 10-12 hours a day. Significant work was done to train fighters and commanders to operate in the mountains.
The troops were taught to walk along steep slopes, storm bunkers, make long marches in mountainous areas along paths and without roads, along wooded gorges, slopes and mountain ridges, overcoming steep climbs and mountain rivers. Since in the mountains it was difficult to organize a centralized power supply from camp kitchens, then, for training purposes, a procedure was established according to which the troops participating in the exercises were removed from the centralized “boiler allowance” every other day and transferred to independent cooking of food in pots and buckets.
Particular attention was paid to the training of mountaineering instructors. The command of the 4th Ukrainian Front organized training camps, which were led by masters of sports in mountaineering. As a result, it was possible to train hundreds of instructor officers for the front, capable of organizing mountaineering training for soldiers directly in their units.
Artillery was also preparing for battles in the mountains. Exercises were organized to raise guns to a height. The crews of the 76 mm guns trained without technical means raise your guns along a mountain slope with a steepness of up to 40 degrees to a height of up to 200 meters.
They didn’t forget to find and use to convey the experience of elderly soldiers who participated in the battles in the Carpathians back in the First World War. world war. The rear of the 4th Ukrainian Front was also prepared for an offensive in the mountains, without roads, only along mountain paths. Rifle companies received 3-4 pack horses, one pack kitchen, or several thermoses and buckets for cooking in the mountains.
In a word, the 4th Ukrainian Front had well prepared its attack to the West through the Carpathians. In the fall of 1944, the front carried out the East Carpathian strategic operation, during which Transcarpathian Ukraine and part of the territory of Czechoslovakia were liberated, and assistance was provided to the anti-German uprising in Slovakia.
In January-February 1945, troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front, in cooperation with the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, carried out a successful Western Carpathian strategic operation, liberating the southern regions of Poland and a significant part of Czechoslovakia. With a strike south of Krakow, the 4th Ukrainian Front secured an offensive from the south Soviet troops in the Warsaw and Berlin direction.
In the spring of 1945, front troops during the Moravian-Ostrava offensive operation cleared the entire territory of Slovakia of the Nazis. Then, in the victorious May of 1945, the 4th Ukrainian Front, created on July 30, 1944, took part in the Prague strategic operation, last offensive Great Patriotic War.