Recently, concerns have been expressed among the command of the Ukrainian army, but not only about a possible second attack by the Russians on Kyiv, but also on the direction of Lviv, in the west of Ukraine, in order to cut the supply lines from the West.

This time, the strike was to come from Belarus, where the Russian army had already begun to concentrate troops and military equipment. In contrast to the unsuccessful attack on the capital of Ukraine at the beginning of the war, Belarusian troops should also participate in this action.

Thus, the head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, openly stated in December that he expected this second attack.

It notes that the Russians, experiencing serious logistical difficulties and a lack of proper equipment, are considering this large-scale action sometime during 2023.

It should be noted that this is not the first attempt by the Russians in military history of such a large-scale maneuver aimed at encircling large masses of enemy troops and blocking their supply routes.

Here we recall the famous operation “Uranus” during the Second World War. It was part of the Battle of Stalingrad, perhaps the turning point of the war on the Eastern Front.

Operation “Uranus” – strategic context and forces involved

As I said, Operation Uranus was a Soviet plan to try to attack the German forces that were besieging Stalingrad starting in the summer of 1942.

After the failure of Operation Typhoon (the occupation of Moscow by the Germans), Hitler decided to capture the strategic city of Stalingrad, located on the Volga, which was seen as an obstacle to Nazi control of the precious oil wells of the Caucasus.

The mission was entrusted to the 6th German Army under the command of Friedrich Paulus, which was assisted by Romanian, Hungarian and Italian troops.

Beginning in August, the Germans launched a major offensive across the Volga River, Paulus was assisted by the German 4th Air Fleet, which held air superiority along that stretch of the front and reduced Stalingrad to ruins.

Russian city destroyed by the Nazis Photo. CBW / Alamy / Alamy / Profimedia

At the beginning of September, the first advanced German units entered the city. It was defended by the Soviet 62nd Guards Army under the leadership of General V. I. Chuikov.

The fact that before the attack, the German aircraft intensively bombed the city, turning it into ruins, turned out to be disadvantageous for the Wehrmacht, the Russians turned every house into a fortress. However, despite heavy losses, the offensive continued, the Germans at one point managed to occupy most of the surface of the city, pushing the Soviet defenders into several “pockets” of defense on the banks of the river.

It should be noted that these small areas of resistance were never eliminated, being constantly fed from the other side of the Volga, despite all the efforts of the German aviation.

During this time, the German generals were concerned about the position of the German flanks, which were supported by the Romanian, Italian and Hungarian allies. The position of these Axis troops was not rosy, they had to defend large sections of the front, which was far beyond their capabilities.

At the same time, the situation of the 3rd and 4th Romanian armies is known, which did not have adequate material support, and the soldiers were not equipped to fight in winter conditions. It should be noted that Italians and Hungarians were in similar situations. All this was brought to Hitler’s attention, but he refused to listen.

At the same time STAVKA, the Soviet High Command instructed General Zhukov to relieve Stalingrad of pressure, the details of Operation Uranus were planned.

Hell is breaking loose – the deployment of Operation Uranus.

For the huge envelopment movement that was to be carried out, the Soviets concentrated large masses of troops, about a million men, supported by tank and artillery units.

The action began on the morning of August 19, 1942, with heavy artillery training on the front lines guarded by the Romanian troops. The shooting was relatively short, almost two hours, but after firing about 3,500 shots, they destroyed the anti-tank barriers.

In the first phase, the Romanians managed to stop the first Soviet waves, but the fact that they did not receive help, combined with the lack of an effective antidote for the T34 tanks, led to a largely disorderly retreat. It should be remembered, and at the same time it is sad, that some units were rejected by the Soviet offensive to the north, falling into the Stalingrad trap together with the German units.

World War II reconstruction Photo: Borys Zhitkov / Alamy / Alamy / Profimedia

Despite the evidence and clear pleas from his subordinates, Hitler refuses to allow a retreat, having been assured by Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, that he will be able to supply the encircled forces from the air.

This never happened effectively, as at this point the Germans no longer had air superiority, and with the loss of two airfields, at Gumrak and Pitomnik, air supply and evacuation of the wounded became impossible.

The Germans were forced to gradually retreat to the ruins of the city, where they continued to hold out in terrible conditions until the complete surrender of the 6th Army on January 31, 1943.

Hitler had previously given Paulus the rank of field marshal to force him not to surrender, as no German field marshal had ever raised the white flag.

Paulus did not take this into account, signing the surrender of the 6th Army, probably much later than he should have done, according to many experts.

At the time of the surrender, there were still about 90,000 Germans in the encirclement, all of whom were taken prisoner to Siberia. Of these, only 5,000 will return home years later.

Consequences of the “Uranus” operation.

Despite the general impression, in the short term the defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad was not the end for the German army. It is obvious that the loss of an entire army, as well as initiatives for the second year in a row, were a strong blow to the morale of the Germans.

On the other hand, shortly after the crushing defeat at Stalingrad, the Russian advance was halted at the Third Battle of Kharkov, a battle that is still studied in academic circles as a brilliant example of mobile defense.

As far as the Romanian troops were concerned, the breakthrough of the front at the bend of the Don was a disaster both in military and humanitarian terms, which could have been avoided by limiting the direction of the front allocated for defense, but especially by Antonescu’s firmer position on Hitler’s claim of absurdity.

Consequences of rocket fire in the center of Kyiv Photo: Yefrem Lukatsky / AP / Profimedia Images

From the Soviet point of view, the Battle of Stalingrad in general and Operation Uranus in particular were a colossal success both militarily and in propaganda terms, despite the huge losses.

Returning to today and the war in Ukraine, military analysts say a second Russian attack on Kyiv is possible but unlikely.

However, the Ukrainians took this opportunity into account, strengthening the northern part where the border with Belarus passes, mining huge territories.

At the same time, thanks to Western aid, the Ukrainian army is now even better equipped than at the beginning of the war.

For this reason, cutting supply lines from the west would mean a catastrophe on a scale Ukraine could ill afford, and their military leaders no doubt know this.

Literature:

-Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad: The Battle That Changed History

– BH Liddell Hart – History of the Second World War

– Constantin Senetescu – the diary of General Senetescu

-Anthony Beevor – Stalingrad

– Wilhelm Adam – With Paulus near Stalingrad. The end of the army

Read other articles on this topic written by Andrii Stan:

• Why the Battle of Bakhmut is remarkably similar to the Battle of Verdun

• Operation “Maritsa” or the real reason why the Germans did not occupy Moscow
• “White shirt attack”, one of the most glorious and crazy Romanian military actions

• The military campaign of the Russians, which was a resounding success. The history of the counteroffensive, which was the basis of the German blitzkrieg

• The battle in which the Russian general sent 11 thousand Romanian soldiers to their deaths

• “Not a step back”: the famous Stalin’s order 227 and blockade special forces

• Battle of Wizna or “Polish Thermopylae”

• The story of Andriy Vlasov, Stalin’s successful general who defected to the Germans: Traitor or anti-communist?
  

• Who was Stepan Bandera: a hero for Ukraine, a terrorist for Russia/ Putin mentioned in his speech on Victory Day

• Lend-Lease or how the USA helped Russia not to disappear

• The Ukrainian genocide that Russia would like to forget

• Russia’s behavior then and now: from Katyn to Buchi, or how Russian propaganda tries to change history

• The Battle of Turtukaia is one of the most shameful defeats in the history of the Romanian army

• The history of two Chechen wars: Russia “wanted” and then “quick and clean” intervention

• Why the blitzkrieg of the Russians in Ukraine failed