Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front. First Ukrainian Front

Unfortunately, knowledge about history in both Europe and Russia has decreased so much that many are ready to consider the words of the Polish and American diplomats to be completely truthful.

How is it really?

From North to South

According to the dictionary of military terms, a front is an operational-strategic formation of armed forces, usually created at the beginning of a war. The front is intended to solve operational-strategic tasks in one strategic or several operational directions of the continental theater of military operations.

The fronts include combined arms armies, as well as various tank, aviation, and artillery formations designed to solve the tasks assigned to the front.

An important point is that the fronts never had a constant composition of formations. The units included in their composition were often transferred to other fronts if the situation required it.

The only thing that was permanent was the management of the front, which was formed according to the established staff and disbanded only if the front was disbanded.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet command formed five fronts - Northern, Northwestern, Western, Southwestern and Southern.

It is quite obvious that the fronts were named according to their geographical location. As a rule, the fronts included units that previously belonged to the corresponding military districts. The first front commands were also formed on the basis of the military district commands.

Participants in the dress rehearsal of the Victory Parade on Red Square. Photo: RIA Novosti

Belarusian, 1st Belarusian, Belarusian again...

The number of fronts during the war was never constant. Their formation, fusion and division were carried out depending on the situation. The larger the general line of military contact became, the more fronts appeared, since the control of too large concentrations of troops turned out to be ineffective.

In addition, in the rear of the fronts conducting combat operations, reserve fronts were created, which acted as an additional line of defense, as well as centers for the accumulation of fresh units ready to go into battle.

Fronts with the same names were created in different periods during the war. For example, in October 1943, the Central Front was renamed the Belorussian Front and existed under this name until February 1944. After this it became the 1st Belorussian Front.

The Belorussian Front was formed for the second time in April 1944 and lasted less than two weeks, being renamed... the 1st Belorussian Front, which should not be confused with the 1st Belorussian Front, which was discussed earlier.

These names may make your head spin, but you need to understand that in the Soviet troops there never existed at the same time two Western, two 1st Belorussian or other two fronts with an identical name. All these changes were of an organizational nature.

Military historians, in order not to get confused about which front they are talking about, use formulations such as, for example, “1st Belorussian Front of the first formation” and “1st Belorussian Front of the second formation.”

Why did the division become Lvov

But the most important thing is that the names of the Soviet fronts are in no way connected with the nationality of the soldiers who made up their units.

Let’s take, for example, the 1st Ukrainian Front, whose history was so freely interpreted by the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry.

It was created in the southwestern direction on October 20, 1943 based on the order of the Supreme Command Headquarters dated October 16, 1943 by renaming the Voronezh Front. The Voronezh Front was formed in July 1942 from part of the troops of the Bryansk Front defending Voronezh. As for the Bryansk Front, it appeared in August 1941 at the junction of the Central and Reserve Fronts to cover the Bryansk direction.

Based on the logic of Mr. Schetina, this front at different periods consisted entirely of residents of Bryansk, Voronezh residents, and even some mysterious “centrals”.

The front included units formed in various parts of the Soviet Union. For example, the 100th Lviv Rifle Division of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which directly participated in the liberation of Auschwitz, was formed in March 1942 in Vologda. And it received the honorary name “Lvovskaya” not because its members were entirely residents of Western Ukraine, but for the valor and heroism of the fighters during the liberation of Lvov.

In the ranks of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Georgians, Armenians and representatives of many other nationalities fought shoulder to shoulder. Then all of them together were Soviet soldiers, going to their death for one Motherland for all.

An interesting point: from March 1945 until the end of the war, the 1st Ukrainian Front actually included a unit that consisted almost entirely of representatives of one nationality. This was the 2nd Army of the Polish Army.

There are many fronts, Victory is one

As already mentioned, at different times there were different numbers of fronts. In 1943, their simultaneous number reached 13. Then the front line began to decrease, and 8 fronts ended the war with Germany - Leningrad, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ukrainian.

In total, during the war, the Soviet command created the following fronts: Belorussian (two formations), 1st Belorussian (two formations), 2nd Belorussian (two formations), 3rd Belorussian, Bryansk (three formations), Volkhovsky (two formations) , Voronezh, Don, Transcaucasian (two formations), Western, Caucasian, Kalinin, Karelian, Crimean, Kursk, Leningrad, Moscow reserve, Moscow defense zone, Oryol, Baltic, 1st Baltic, 2nd Baltic, 3rd Baltic , Reserve (two formations), Northern, North-Western, North Caucasian (two formations), Stalingrad (two formations), Stepnoy, 1st Ukrainian, 2nd Ukrainian, 3rd Ukrainian, 4th Ukrainian (two formations), Mozhaisk line of defense, Reserve armies, Central (two formations), South-Eastern, South-Western (two formations), Southern (two formations).

In September 1941, the Transbaikal Front was created and existed throughout the Great Patriotic War, designed to repel a possible Japanese invasion. It entered battle in August 1945, with the outbreak of the Soviet-Japanese War, along with the newly formed 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts.

The saddest thing is that, unlike European ordinary people who are not versed in history, the Polish minister Grzegorz Szhetyna is a historian by training. And therefore, he knows everything that is stated above very well. It is quite possible that American Ambassador Michael Kirby is also aware of this.

And the statements made by these gentlemen are not a mistake, not an incident, but a conscious course towards rewriting history, its distortion for political purposes.

And this course will not lead to anything good.

, 47th, 60th armies, 3rd Guards Tank and the 2nd Air Army. Subsequently it included 1st, 3rd, 5th Guards, 6th, 18th, 21st, 28th, 31st, 52nd, 59th Armies, 1st and 4th Guards , 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th tank armies, 8th Air Army and 2nd Army of the Polish Army.

From November 3 to November 13, 1943, front troops carried out the Kyiv strategic offensive operation, during which they liberated Kyiv on November 6 and advanced west from the Dnieper to 150 km. Then, on November 13 - December 22, 1943, they carried out the Kyiv defensive operation, as a result of which they thwarted the plans of the German command to recapture Kiev and eliminate the strategic bridgehead of Soviet troops.

Subsequently, December 24, 1943 - January 14, 1944, front troops carried out the Zhitomir-Berdichev operation, moving forward almost 200 km, deeply enveloping the German Army Group South from the north and creating favorable conditions for organizing offensive operations on the Right Bank Ukraine.

In the winter of 1944, the troops of the left flank of the front, in cooperation with the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, participated in the Korsun-Shevchenko operation (January 24 - February 17), as a result of which over 10 enemy divisions were surrounded and destroyed. At the same time, the armies of the right flank carried out the Rivne-Lutsk operation (January 27 - February 11, 1944) and took an advantageous position to strike the flank and rear of the German Army Group South from the north. The main forces of Army Group South were defeated in March - April by troops of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts.

Having carried out the Proskurov-Chernovtsy operation (March 4 - April 17, 1944), the front troops reached the Carpathians and, in cooperation with the troops2nd Ukrainian Front cut the strategic front of German troops into two parts.

In the summer of 1944, during the Lviv-Sandomierz strategic operation (July 13 - August 29), the German army group “Northern Ukraine” was defeated, the western regions of Ukraine, the south-eastern regions of Poland were liberated from the enemy, and a large Sandomierz bridgehead was captured on the left bank of the Vistula .

In the winter of 1945, front troops carried out the Sandomierz-Silesian operation (January 12 - February 3), during which the southern regions of Poland were liberated, the Oder was crossed and military operations were transferred to German territory. In February, as a result of the Lower Silesian operation (February 8 - 24), front troops reached the Neisse River and took up an advantageous position for an attack on Berlin.

In the second half of March 1945, the troops of the left flank of the front carried out the Upper Silesian operation (March 15 - 31), surrounded and then destroyed the Oppeln and Ratibor enemy groups.

In April - May 1945, front troops participated in the Berlin Strategic Operation (April 16 - May 8), and then in the Prague Strategic Operation (May 6 - 11), during which the defeat of the German armed forces was completed.

The front was disbanded on June 10, 1945 on the basis of the Supreme Command Headquarters directive No. 11096 of May 29, 1945; its field department was reorganized into the department of the Central Group of Forces.

On July 6, 1944, the front was formed to participate in the Lvov-Sandomierz strategic operation1st and 2ndhorse-mechanized groups.

Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front participated in the following operations:

Strategic Operations:
- Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation 1945;
- Vistula-Oder strategic offensive operation of 1945;
- East Carpathian strategic offensive operation of 1944;
- Dnieper-Carpathian strategic offensive operation of 1943-44;
- Kyiv strategic offensive operation of 1943;
- Lviv-Sandomierz strategic offensive operation of 1944;
- Prague strategic offensive operation of 1945.
Front-line and army operations:
- Bukrinskaya offensive operation of 1943;
- Upper Silesian offensive operation of 1945;
- Dresden-Prague offensive operation of 1945;
- Zhitomir-Berdich offensive operation of 1943-44;
- Carpathian-Dukla offensive operation of 1944;
- Carpathian-Uzhgorod offensive operation of 1944;
- Kyiv defensive operation 1943;
- Korsun-Shevchenko offensive operation of 1944;
- Cottbus-Potsdam offensive operation 1945;
- Lviv offensive operation of 1944;
- Lyutezh offensive operation of 1943;
- Lower Silesian offensive operation of 1945;
- Operation to expand the bridgehead in the Sandomierz area in 1944;
- Proskurov-Chernivtsi offensive operation of 1944;
- Rivne-Lutsk offensive operation of 1944;
- Sandomierz offensive operation of 1944;
- Sandomierz-Silesian offensive operation of 1945;
- Stanislav offensive operation of 1944;
- Sudetenland offensive operation 1945;
- Stremberg-Torgau offensive operation of 1945.

Operation plan of the 1st Ukrainian Front

The overall goal of the operation of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Stepanovich Konev was to break through the German defenses on the Neisse River, defeat enemy groups in the Cottbus area and south of Berlin, followed by an offensive to the west and the entry of Soviet troops to the Belitz, Wittenberg and R. Elbe.

By the beginning of the operation, the 1st Ukrainian Front deployed south of the 1st Belorussian Front in a sector 390 km wide from Gross-Gastrose to Krnov. The main strike group of the front was located on the 48-kilometer section of Gross-Gastrose, Birkfere. The Birkvere, Rothenburg sector, 30 km away, was defended by two Polish divisions. The southern auxiliary strike group was located on the 13-kilometer section of Rothenburg and Pentsikh. The Pencekh, Krnov sector (about 300 km) was defended by divisions of the left flank of the 52nd Army, troops of the 21st and 59th armies. The 6th Army continued the siege of Breslau. Already during the Berlin operation, the 31st Army was transferred to the left flank of the front.

Konev decided to deliver the main blow with the forces of three combined arms and two tank armies from the Triebel area in the direction of Spremberg, Belzig with the aim of defeating German troops in the Cottbus area and south of Berlin and reaching the front line of the river. Elbe. The right wing of the front was supposed to take part in the assault on Berlin. The main strike group included the 3rd Guards Army of Vasily Gordov, the 13th Army of Nikolai Pukhov, the 5th Guards Army of Alexei Zhadov, the 3rd Guards Tank Army of Pavel Rybalko and the 4th Guards Tank Army of Dmitry Lelyushenko. The 3rd Guards Army was reinforced by the 25th Tank Corps, and the 5th Guards Army by the 4th Guards Tank Corps. In addition, in the second echelon of the front there was the 28th Army of Alexander Luchinsky, which was supposed to build on the success in the main direction. On the second day of the operation, the front's main attack group was supposed to break through the enemy's defenses in the Forst-Muskau sector and reach the Spree River.

Commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal I.S. Konev and commander of the 4th Tank Army D.D. Lelyushenko at an observation post during the breakthrough of the German defense on the Neisse River

From the line of the Spree River they planned to introduce tank armies into the breakthrough (in reality, they entered the battle already on the first day of the operation). Rybalko's army received the task of attacking from the line south of Cottbus, and Lelyushenko's army - from the area north of Spremberg. The mobile formations of the front had to decisively break away from the front and develop a rapid offensive to the northwest, in the general direction of Troenbritzen. Rybalko's Guards Army received the task on the 5th day of the offensive to reach the area of Trebbin, Troenbritzen, Luckenwalde, and on the 6th day to capture Brandenburg. Part of the forces of the 3rd Guards Tank Army received the task of attacking Berlin from the south. Lelyushenko's Guards Army received the task on the 5th day of the operation to reach the Nimegk, Wittenberg area, and on the 6th day to occupy Rathenow and Dessau with forward detachments.

To ensure the success of the main strike force from the south, an auxiliary attack was planned by the forces of the 2nd Army of the Polish Army Karol Swierczewski, the Polish tank corps and the right wing of the 52nd Army of Konstantin Koroteev with the 7th Guards Mechanized Corps of Ivan Korchagin from the area west of Kolfurt in the general direction to Dresden. In addition, it was planned to introduce the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps of Viktor Baranov into the offensive zone of the 52nd Army. The cavalry was supposed to go to the rear of the enemy's Görlitz-Dresden group. From the air, the offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front was supported by the 2nd Air Army of Stepan Krasovsky.

Breakthrough of the Neissen line

April 16. On the night of April 16, 1945, in the Forst and Muskau strip, our troops conducted reconnaissance in force. From each division of the first echelon a reinforced company was allocated. At night, reconnaissance companies, reinforced with artillerymen and mortarmen, secretly crossed the Neisse. However, their attempts to break into the enemy’s defenses encountered strong, well-organized resistance. As a result, intelligence established that German troops were firmly in defensive positions.

In order to disguise the direction of the main attack, at dawn on April 16, a smoke screen was installed along the entire 390-kilometer front occupied by Konev’s armies. At 6 o'clock. 15 minutes. a 40-minute artillery preparation began. From 7 o'clock 05 min. Bomber aircraft began attacking at 8 o'clock. 30 min. and the stormtroopers were active all day long. Meanwhile, sappers built assault bridges and prepared watercraft.

At 6 o'clock. 55 min. reinforced battalions of the first echelon divisions began to cross the Neisse. Escorting guns were transported with the advanced units. Since the bridges had not yet been built, the guns were dragged to the other bank using ropes along the river bottom. After the advanced units captured the bridgeheads, the engineering troops built bridges along which the first echelons of the main forces of the strike force began to move. Within 50 minutes, sappers built bridges on boats, after 2 hours - bridges for 30-ton loads, and after 4-5 hours - bridges on rigid supports for loads up to 60 tons. From 8 o'clock 40 minutes, when the artillery fire was transferred deep into the German defense, the first echelon divisions went on the attack.

In general, combat operations in the offensive zone of the front's main strike group developed according to the planned plan. Troops of the 3rd Guards Army, with the support of the 6th Guards Tank Corps of General V. A. Mitrofanov and the 2nd Guards Assault Aviation Corps of General S. V. Slyusarev crossed the Neisse, broke through the main enemy defense line, and took the strongholds of Koine and Grosse Zschachsdorf. Particularly fierce battles took place for the main and most powerful stronghold of the Nijsen defensive line - Forst. Before the assault, our aviation dealt a powerful blow to the fortress, from which the Forst garrison suffered serious losses. Then units of the 76th Rifle Corps captured the eastern and southern parts of the city and began a battle for the center.

By the end of the day, the strike group of Gordov's Guards Army - the 120th and 21st Rifle Corps, the 25th Tank Corps - broke through the main enemy defense line, advancing 4-6 km. The right-flank 76th Corps eliminated the German bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Neisse in the Forst area and advanced 1-1.5 km.

The 13th Army, advancing in the center of the main strike group, with the support of the 7th and 10th Guards Tank Corps, achieved the greatest successes. The army was supported from the air by the 1st Guards Assault Aviation Corps of General V. G. Ryazanov. Pukhov's army crossed the Neisse along the entire offensive front, and fought heavy battles all day in a continuous forest. The forest was burning, which worsened the conditions of the offensive. The 102nd Rifle Corps of General I.M. Puzikov, the 27th Rifle Corps of F.M. Cherokmanov, the 7th Guards Tank Corps of V.V. Novikov and the 10th Guards Tank Corps of E.E. Belov advanced 12- 13 km, broke through the main line of enemy defense and captured a number of strong points. The advanced units wedged into the second line of enemy defense (Matilda line).

The 5th Guards Army, attacking on the left flank, also advanced successfully. The greatest success was achieved by the 32nd Guards Corps of General A.I. Rodimtsev, which, with the support of Poluboyarov’s 4th Guards Tank Corps, broke through the main line of enemy defense, advanced 8 kilometers and reached the second line of German defense. The 34th Guards Rifle Corps, with the support of attack aircraft, destroyed the German bridgehead on the right bank of the Neisse in the Muskau area and took this strong stronghold. By the end of the day, the 34th Guards Corps broke through the main defense line and advanced 6 km. It should be noted that Zhadov’s army encountered great difficulties in crossing the Neisse. There were not enough crossing facilities; the left bank of the Neisse passed through wooded and swampy terrain. The Germans mined areas convenient for movement.

On the same day, the southern auxiliary group of the front went on the offensive. Polish troops crossed the Neisse River and broke through the enemy's main defense line, advancing 1-6 km in different directions. The right-flank 73rd Rifle Corps of the 52nd Army, commanded by General S.S. Martirosyan, crossed the water barrier, broke through the main defense line and advanced 10 km.

Thus, on the very first day of the offensive, the main attack group of the front broke through the main line of German defense in the 26-kilometer section of Forst, Muskau, advanced up to 13 km in depth, and in places wedged itself into the second line of defense. True, the task set on the first day of the offensive, to break through the first and second lines of defense, was not fully completed. The German command, in the fight for the second line of defense, brought the 21st Panzer Division into the battle, as well as a number of individual units and subunits, and our troops had to repel fierce enemy counterattacks.

Mobile formations played a major role in breaking through the main line of defense. Already on the first day of the offensive, the advanced brigades of the Guards Tank Armies, as well as the 25th and 4th Guards Tank Corps, were brought into battle. Aviation provided great assistance, making 3,376 sorties during the day. German aviation was not active that day, making 220 sorties.

April 17. Our armies continued their offensive with part of their forces at night. The 3rd Guards Army continued to storm Forst with part of its forces, while part of its forces advanced on Cottbus - the most important enemy defense center and communications center. The Germans put up stubborn resistance and repeatedly launched counterattacks. The strongholds of Zimmersdorf and Zergen were taken. Gordov's army advanced up to 8 km.

Pukhov's 13th Army broke enemy resistance on the second line of defense. Attempts by German troops to delay the Soviet offensive with counterattacks were unsuccessful. In the offensive zone of the 5th Guards Army, the German command on the second defensive line brought into battle part of the forces of the Fuhrer's Guard tank division. However, our troops repelled German counterattacks and broke through the second line of defense in the Ttzschernitz, Kromlau sector. Tank armies and corps, and aviation continued to provide serious assistance to the infantry. True, the activity of our aviation decreased - 1,779 sorties, while the German one increased - 400 sorties. Our pilots shot down 48 German planes.

Thus, on the second day of the offensive, the 1st Ukrainian Front achieved significant success; on a 20-kilometer front, the second line of enemy defense was broken through; in other directions, our troops wedged themselves into the second line of defense. The greatest success was achieved by the troops of the left wing of the 13th and right wing of the 5th Guards Armies, which advanced in the general direction of Spremberg. During the two days of the offensive, Soviet troops advanced here 18 km to the west. However, it was not possible to force the river. Spree and break through the third line of defense, as ordered by the front command.

Konev, having received the consent of Supreme Commander-in-Chief Stalin, decided on the night of April 18 to cross the Spree, and then turn the tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front towards Berlin. If the enemy could put up serious resistance on the Spree, they planned to pull up artillery to the river and carry out a powerful artillery barrage in the morning. The tank armies had to develop a rapid offensive towards Berlin and Potsdam, bypassing cities and large populated areas that had been turned into strong strongholds and without getting involved in protracted battles.

Our troops also successfully advanced in the Dresden direction. The 2nd Army of the Polish Army, in difficult conditions of a wooded area, advanced 4-7 km and wedged into the second line of enemy defense. The divisions of the 52nd Army, which also advanced in difficult conditions of wooded and swampy terrain, advanced 4-5 km and wedged 2-3 km into the second line of enemy defense. Our troops had to repel strong counterattacks by units of the 1st Parachute Tank Division "Hermann Goering", which the German command brought into the battle north of Görlitz. Konev ordered the commander of the 31st Army, General P.G. Shafranov, on the night of April 19 to begin replacing the divisions of the 52nd Army in the Pentsikha area. The liberated three divisions of the 52nd Army were planned to be transferred to the Dresden direction.

The German command, after attempts to contain the advance of our troops with the help of the forces of the 21st Panzer Division and the Fuhrer's Guard Panzer Division failed, tried to organize a stable defense on the third (rear) defense line, which ran along the Spree River. Already in the second half of the day, the withdrawal of troops to the Spree River began. The German command, with the help of reserves, tried to organize a counterattack to close the gap between Cottbus and Spremberg. Among the reserves was the 10th Panzer Division "Frundsberg". In addition, on April 18, the 2nd parachute motorized division "Hermann Goering" and the 344th infantry division began to be transferred to this direction. At the same time, the Germans tried to organize a counterattack against the left flank of the front’s strike force. For this purpose, already on April 17, a strike group began to be created in the Görlitz area. In addition to the 1st parachute tank division "Hermann Goering", on April 18 it included three infantry divisions and the corps group "Moser". By April 23, another infantry division and the 20th Panzer Division were transferred to the Görlitz area.

A column of Soviet T-34-85 tanks from the 9th Mechanized Corps of the 3rd Guards Tank Army with armored infantry waiting to march.
In the foreground on the right is a SU-85M self-propelled artillery mount.

A specially built barricade on the approaches to Berlin. In the event of a breakthrough by Soviet tanks, the structures of their logs and earth in the upper part of the barricade were detonated by special charges and were knocked down and blocked the passage

April 18th. On this day the fighting was especially fierce. The Germans brought new reserves into the battle and tried with all their might to delay our troops at the rear line of defense. The troops of the 3rd Guards Army completely took Forst and crossed the Fliess Canal. As a result, the army broke through the second line of enemy defense on the Fliess Canal and reached the Spree River.

The 13th Army, supported by the 3rd Guards Tank Army, continued its offensive at night, pushing the enemy rearguards back to the Spree. During the day, Pukhov's army repulsed several fierce enemy counterattacks. The Soviet command, having established that the Germans had concentrated most of their forces and reserves in the areas of Cottbus and Spremberg, decided to cross the Spree and break through the third line of defense between these two strong points. Between Cottbus and Spremberg the Germans had the weakest defense. Therefore, the main forces of the tank armies of Rybalko and Lelyushenko were sent to the 13th Army zone. At the same time, Soviet aviation launched powerful attacks on the positions of the third defense line and the advancing German reserves.

At 1 p.m. On April 18, the forward 56th Guards Tank Brigade of the 7th Guards Tank Corps crossed the Spree near Bresingen. By evening, the main forces of the corps were already on the other side. In the afternoon, Front Commander Konev personally went to this area and decided to lead the 6th Guards Tank Corps, transferred from the Katlov, Zergen area, through this crossing. The second echelon of Rybalko’s army, the 9th Mechanized Corps, was sent to the same area.

The 7th Guards Tank Corps with the infantry of the 102nd Rifle Corps wedged 4 km into the third line of enemy defense and by the end of the day advanced 12 km, reaching the Gross-Osnig-Döbbern line. The rapid advance of our tankers, who quickly crossed the river and captured a bridgehead on the western bank of the Spree, did not allow the Germans to use the 344th Infantry Division, which they did not have time to move to third position. The troops of the 27th Rifle Corps and the 10th Guards Tank Corps achieved great success. They also crossed the Spree in the area of Bilov on the move and broke through the third line of enemy defense 5 km deep. By the end of the day, our troops reached the Klein-Bukov, Gross-Bukov line, having advanced 13 km in a day. The second echelon of Lelyushenko’s tank army, the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, was sent to the Bilov area.

Thus, the armies of Pukhov, Rybalko and Lelyushenko successfully crossed a large water line - the Spree and captured a bridgehead up to 10 km wide and 5 km deep. The prerequisites were created for the further development of the offensive and maneuver of mobile formations towards Berlin. The quick actions of the engineering troops, which ensured the construction of bridges across the Spree, ensured the timely crossing of the main forces of the front's strike group to the western bank of the river. By the end of April 18, sappers had built four bridges.

Zhadov's 5th Guards Army with the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps took the stronghold of Trebendorf and the northern part of Weiswasser on April 18. Developing offensives in the difficult conditions of a continuous forest, Soviet troops reached the Spree and began the battle for a large enemy defense center - Spremberg. The troops of the center - the 34th Guards Rifle Corps crossed the Spree and Kleine Spree rivers and broke through the third line of enemy defense.

In the Dresden direction, Polish troops, overcoming difficult terrain and numerous obstacles, took the large defense center of Niska during a stubborn battle. The 2nd Army of the Polish Army advanced 9 km and completed the breakthrough of the second line of enemy defense. The 1st Polish tank corps of General Kimbar advanced in the general direction of Bautzen and broke away from the infantry by 5 km. By the end of the day, Polish tankers took the city of Förstgen and fought for Ober und Nieder Elsa. On the same day, Baranov’s 1st Guards Cavalry Corps was introduced into the breakthrough, breaking away from the infantry by several kilometers. The right flank of the 52nd Army with the 7th Guards Mechanized Corps took Weissenberg and, without encountering much resistance, advanced 20 km in a day. The left flank divisions of the 52nd Army fought heavy battles all day with the 1st Parachute Tank Division "Hermann Goering" and enemy infantry. The Germans were able to push our troops back 3-4 km.

ISU-152 on the march. 1st Ukrainian Front, April 1945

Crossing of the Spree by troops of the 3rd Guards. tank army. Wooden stakes marked a ford for tanks crossing the river

T-34-85 tanks of the 1st Polish Tank Corps. April 1945

Results

Over three days of stubborn fighting, from April 16 to 18, Konev’s armies broke through the Niessen defensive line of the German army on the 35-kilometer Forst-Muskau section and the 20-kilometer Steinbach-Penzich section, and advanced 30 km west in both directions. Soviet troops in the offensive area of the front's main strike group broke through all three enemy defense lines. The exit of formations of the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies to the left bank of the Spree River in the offensive zones of the 13th and 5th Guards armies allowed the command to develop an offensive to the west, to the Elbe and begin maneuvering towards the German capital.

The German 4th Panzer Army suffered a serious defeat and two attacks by the 1st Ukrainian Front (the main strike group and an auxiliary group) on Spremberg and Bautzen were divided into three separate parts: the Cottbus group, the troops defending in the Muskauer Forst forest, and the Görlitz group grouping. Several German divisions, including the Brandenburg motorized division, were completely destroyed.

The German command, trying to stop our troops on the second and third lines of defense, brought into the battle from the reserve of the 3rd Tank Army, Army Group Center and the reserve of the main command 11 divisions, including 5 tank and 1 motorized (21st, 20th I Panzer Divisions, Panzer Division "Führer's Guard", 10th SS Panzer Division "Frunsberg", 1st Parachute Panzer Division "Hermann Goering" and 2nd Parachute Motorized Division "Hermann Goering").

The massive use of artillery and tanks provided the infantry with favorable offensive conditions. The entire 30-kilometer strip of the Nijsen defensive line was broken through by the efforts of the first echelon rifle corps with the support of tank and mechanized corps of the first echelon tank armies. Rifle corps of the second echelons of combined arms armies were not brought into battle. The second echelons of the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies also remained unused. This ensured the speed of further offensive and maneuver. As a result, the expediency of introducing the first echelons of tank armies into battle from the first day of the operation was confirmed by the very course of events. The front's strike force broke through three enemy defense lines and repelled counterattacks by 11 enemy reserve divisions.

The engineering troops and aviation played a major role in the success of the operation. Soviet planes destroyed enemy strongholds and attacked German reserves. On April 18, the main efforts of the Soviet air army were aimed at destroying the main centers of enemy resistance on the Spree River - Cottbus and Spremberg. In total, on April 16-18, the 2nd Air Army made more than 7,500 sorties and destroyed 155 German aircraft in air battles.

Ctrl Enter

Noticed osh Y bku Select text and click Ctrl+Enter

What is this – a statement by an ignoramus who, by hook or by crook, has broken through to a high government post, an opportunist or...

Of course the latter. Everyone remembers well the miracles from Mr. A. Deshchitsa, the Maidan Minister. There is undoubtedly something in common in the images of these two light genre artists.
God is theirs, but not their teacher.

First Ukrainian Front.

The First Ukrainian Front was created on October 20, 1943 based on the order of the Supreme Command Headquarters dated October 16, 1943 by renaming the Voronezh Front. It included the 13th, 27th, 38th, 40th, 47th, 60th combined arms armies, the 3rd Guards Tank Army, and the 2nd Air Army. Subsequently, the composition of the front changed several times.
Troop commanders: General of the Army Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin (October 1943 - March 1944), Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (March - May 1944), Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Stepanovich Konev (May 1944 - until the end of the war).

By January 1945, the First Ukrainian Front included:
- 3rd Guards Army;
- 5th Guards Army;
- 6th Army;
- 13th Army;
- 21st Army;
- 52nd Army;
- 59th Army;
- 60th Army;
- 3rd Guards Tank Army;
- 4th Tank Army;
- 2nd Air Army.

In order to create a powerful strike force in the main direction of advance of the Soviet troops, the First Ukrainian Front was reinforced with rifle, airborne, cavalry, artillery, armored, mechanized formations, air force units and engineering troops.

It should also be noted that on March 19, 1945, the Polish 2nd Army became part of the First Ukrainian Front, whose soldiers took part in the Berlin and then Prague operations.

In November 1943, during an offensive operation, front troops liberated it, and during further defensive battles they managed to hold it. In December 1943 - January 1944, front formations carried out a successful offensive in the Zhytomyr direction, carried out coverage of the enemy Army Group "South" from the north, and created conditions for the further development of the offensive on the territory of Right-Bank Ukraine. During a large-scale offensive on the territory of Ukraine in January - April 1944, front troops, in cooperation with formations of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, defeated German forces in the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky area, and then the defeat of the main forces of Army Group South. By the end of April, front troops reached the Carpathians and, in cooperation with the 2nd Ukrainian Front, cut the enemy front into two parts. In the summer of 1944, during successful offensive battles, front formations defeated the troops of the Northern Ukraine Army Group, liberated the western regions of Ukraine, the southeastern regions of Poland, crossed the Vistula in the Sandomierz region and captured a bridgehead on its left bank. On August 6, 1944, formations of the left wing of the front were transferred to form the 4th Ukrainian Front. From the Sandomierz bridgehead in January 1945, front formations attacked the enemy in the direction of the Oder, crossed it and transferred the fighting to the territory. In February - March 1945, front troops liberated Lower and Upper Silesia, reached the Neisse River and took up an advantageous position for an attack on. In April - May 1945, front units took part in operations to capture Berlin and defeat the enemy group in Czechoslovakia.

Disbanded on June 10, 1945 in accordance with the directive of the Supreme Command Headquarters of May 29, 1945. The front department was reorganized into the department of the Central Group of Forces.
At the final stage of the Sandomierz-Silesian operation on January 27, 1945, Soviet troops under the command of Marshal I.S. Konev, namely the soldiers of Major General V.Ya. Petrenko, commander of the 107th division of the 60th Army, entered Auschwitz, in which at that moment, about 7.6 thousand prisoners remained alive.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp by Soviet troops, TsAMO for the first time published on its website unique documents from the Great Patriotic War, relating, in particular, to the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Some of them were previously kept in secret storage and were accessible only to a narrow circle of historians.

Materials revealing the course of military operations and the liberation of Polish territory in January 1945 contain combat reports from the command of formations and units of the 1st Ukrainian Front, including a log of combat operations of the 472nd Infantry Regiment, a political report from the head of the political department of the 100th Infantry Division, chief political department of the 60th Army - direct participants in the liberation of prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

A report was also published on the list of military personnel based on socio-demographic characteristics of the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front, containing information about Red Army soldiers of more than 39 nationalities - Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Armenians, Ossetians, Georgians and many others.

Apparently, the scale of the operational-strategic formations of troops, their role in the liberation of Europe from the Nazi invaders during the Second World War simply does not fit into the heads of such bad boys from politics.

Finally, I would like to remind you of one more important fact from the history of World War II. In March 1944, the 1st Polish Army (more than 90 thousand people) was deployed, which included not only Polish citizens, but also Soviet citizens. Moreover, the backbone of the army became the First Polish Infantry Division named after. Tadeusz Kosciuszko, whose formation began a year earlier in the Seletsky military camps near Ryazan.

The division received its baptism of fire near the village of Lenino in the Mogilev region on October 12, 1943, and ended the war as part of the 1st Polish Army in May 1945 at the walls of the defeated Reichstag.

Representatives of different countries and peoples rallied in one rank, at the cost of incredible sacrifices they won the most brutal war in the history of mankind, giving us peace and freedom.

I would really not like for what was conquered to be divided, sold, repainted, altered, or, simply put, betrayed by these low-quality people.

Armies, 3rd Guards Tank and 2nd Air Armies. Subsequently it included the 1st, 3rd, 5th Guards, 6th, 18th, 21st, 28th, 31st, 52nd, 59th armies, 1st and the 4th Guards, 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th Tank Armies, 8th Air Army and 2nd Army of the Polish Army.

Having carried out the Proskurov-Chernivtsi operation (March 4 - April 17, 1944), the front troops reached the Carpathians and, in cooperation with the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, cut the strategic front of the German troops into two parts.

The front was disbanded on June 10, 1945 on the basis of Directive of the Supreme Command Headquarters No. 11096 of May 29, 1945; its field department was reorganized into the department of the Central Group of Forces.

On July 6, 1944, the 1st and 2nd cavalry mechanized groups were formed as part of the front to participate in the Lvov-Sandomierz strategic operation.

Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front participated in the following operations:

Strategic Operations:

Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation 1945;
Vistula-Oder strategic offensive operation of 1945;
East Carpathian strategic offensive operation of 1944;
Dnieper-Carpathian strategic offensive operation of 1943-44;
Kyiv strategic offensive operation of 1943;
Lviv-Sandomierz strategic offensive operation of 1944;
Prague strategic offensive operation of 1945.

Front-line and army operations:

Bukrinskaya offensive operation of 1943;
Upper Silesian offensive operation of 1945;
Dresden-Prague offensive operation of 1945;
Zhitomir-Berdich offensive operation of 1943-44;
Carpathian-Dukla offensive operation of 1944;
Carpathian-Uzhgorod offensive operation of 1944;
Kyiv defensive operation 1943;
Korsun-Shevchenko offensive operation of 1944;
Cottbus-Potsdam offensive operation 1945;
Lviv offensive operation of 1944;
Lyutezh offensive operation of 1943;
Lower Silesian offensive operation of 1945;
Operation to expand the bridgehead in the Sandomierz area in 1944;
Proskurov-Chernivtsi offensive operation of 1944;
Rivne-Lutsk offensive operation of 1944;
Sandomierz offensive operation of 1944;
Sandomierz-Silesian offensive operation of 1945;
Stanislav offensive operation of 1944;
Sudetenland offensive operation 1945;
Stremberg-Torgau offensive operation of 1945.