City of Kiev: the defense of Kiev (1941)

One of the significant events of the Great Patriotic War is the battle of 1941 for Kiev. The defense of the city lasted from July to September and claimed many lives. In documents, this event is called the Kiev strategic defensive operation.

Despite the heroism of Soviet soldiers and local residents, many strategic mistakes were made. Subsequently, they led to tragic events, for which hundreds of thousands of people had to pay their own lives.

Beginning of the End

For the first time Kiev was attacked at the very beginning of the war. It was on June 22, 1941, that German bombers dropped their bombs at dawn at dawn. Thus began the Great Patriotic War. In less than a month the Germans will approach the city closely.

From the air raid, the buildings of the railway station, aircraft factory, military airfield and others, including houses, were damaged. Most people did not even realize that the war began. For them, these were the next exercises, which were intensively conducted by Soviet troops for more than a year.

From the same moment the city began to prepare for defense. The line of defense of Kiev was created, which represented a strip of 200 dots. Before them, ditches were built against tanks and infantry. Near the city, another line of dots and ditches was created. All these works were performed by more than 160 thousand people from Kiev and residents of the nearest villages.

June 23 in the city opened points for mobilization. It was called 200 thousand people, that is, a fifth of the inhabitants of Kiev. According to eyewitnesses, young people sought to get to the front for a war with the Germans. This patriotism was not broken by multiple repressions and denunciations, which took place in the 1930s and again resumed because of the war.

The beginning of the Kiev defensive operation is considered to be July 11, when the Wehrmacht forces reached the Irpen River. It was located 15 kilometers west of the city. The operation lasted 70 days.

Event participants

In order to understand who carried out the attack on the city and who carried out the defense of Kiev, it is worth looking at the table.

Plans of Germany in July 1941

The German command expected to capture the Donbass and Crimea before the onset of winter. It was also important to seize Leningrad for uniting with Finnish troops. They could be prevented from fulfilling these goals by the heroic defense of Kiev.

According to one of the directives, Hitler ordered that the southeastern section should not simply be taken. The most important task was not to allow the enemy's large forces to retreat into the interior, but to destroy them on the western bank of the Dnieper.

July-August fighting: destructive decisions

In the west of Kiev was the army "South". Confronted her SF, which surpassed the enemy in the number of soldiers and technical equipment. But there was a significant lack of experience. The Soviet army lacked initiative commanders, and the Germans perfectly maneuvered and skilfully surrounded the enemy.

Together with the fighting, the population was evacuated. However, it was unorganized. Often representatives of the authorities exported their families with a lot of luggage, which greatly angered ordinary people. For these purposes even trucks were used, which were sorely lacking at the front.

The heroic offensive of General Vlasov's army helped stabilize the situation for a short time. August 10, thanks to him, the suburb of Kiev was liberated. This up to furious angered the German Fuhrer, who August 8 was set up to hold a parade on Khreshchatyk. However, the success of the Red Army did not last long.

Germany's plans in August

The heroic defense of Kiev forced the German command to change its plans. Hitler believed that it was much more important to capture not Moscow, as Franz Halder thought, but of the southern territories of the USSR. Until winter, Hitler wanted to take over the Crimea, the coal and industrial regions of the Donbass, and block the ways of delivering oil from the Caucasus to the Soviet troops.

In addition to Halder, Heintz Guderian did not agree with Hitler's decision. He personally tried to persuade the Fuhrer not to stop the offensive against Moscow, but his arguments did not affect the decision of the commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht. Thus, parts of the "Center" group were transferred to the south on August 24, and the offensive against Moscow was suspended.

The plans of the USSR in August

Stalin feared for Moscow. He understood that soon military actions would be moved in this direction. This is also confirmed by intelligence. According to data at the beginning of August, German troops had to attack Moscow via Bryansk.

But Stalin did not know that Hitler would decide to dramatically change his plans and send additional forces to the south.

Fighting in late August: belated retreat

On August 21, Hitler signed a directive. It had a decisive influence on the subsequent course of the war. It consisted in the fact that the main forces of the Wehrmacht moved their blow from Moscow to the south, that is, to Kiev, the Crimea and the Donbas.

Despite the fact that there was both military and civil defense of Kiev, the situation became catastrophic. At the same time, the command did not allow to surrender the capital, being afraid of the reaction of Stalin, who forbade it.

As a result, the SWF was completely surrounded by the Germans. On the night of September 18, Moscow decided to retreat. However, the time was lost, as a result not all units were able to get out of the ring. About 700 thousand soldiers were captured and killed. The same fate befell General Kyrponos, as well as 800 officers and generals who led the front.

The defense of Kiev was failed. Soviet troops, retreating, in a hurry yet managed to undermine all four bridges across the Dnieper. At the same time, civilians and servicemen marched through them at that moment. The city power station, water supply was put out of action. Thousands of sacks of food were thrown into the water. All these actions doomed the remaining residents (about 400 thousand people) to starvation in the occupied city.

The Germans entered the city on September 19. The next day, executions of Jews began, and thousands of local residents were taken to work in Germany. This went on for three years.

Results and consequences of the operation

Territorial defense of Kiev could not resist the forces of the Wehrmacht. The defeat was a heavy blow to the Soviet army. In addition to the huge number of human casualties, more than 4,000 guns, mortars, tanks and aircraft were lost.

The unsuccessful defense of Kiev opened the way to the East for the Wehrmacht. Then the events unfolded instantly. The Germans conquered more and more new territories.

Chronology of the seizure of eastern and southern lands:

• October 8 - Priazovye;
• October 16 - Odessa region;
• October 17 - Donbass;
• October 25 - Kharkov;
• November 2 - Crimea (Sevastopol fell into a blockade).

There were several positive moments in this bloody defeat. First of all, German troops, transferred from Moscow, gave the Soviet command the opportunity to prepare for its defense. The offensive to Leningrad was also suspended to create a closer ring around it. Thus, the Kiev defensive operation left no time for the Germans to capture Moscow.