Internet and History: Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation launched a multimedia section about the first defence battles of the Red Army

On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation released a new historical and educational multimedia section "The Day that Eliminated the Blitzkrieg". It spotlights the first defence operations of the Red Army, the courage and heroism of Soviet soldiers who resisted the first attack of the aggressor.

The section opens with archival materials that reveal the plan of the German Nazi Command for the war against the Soviet Union and the methods of achieving it. Thus, the released "Preliminary Plan of Operations in the East", prepared by the Main Command of the German Ground Forces on August 5, 1940, reports: "To succeed, we must act suddenly and quickly, as it was in Poland and the West".

Also, the section provides a map with the concept of the eastern campaign, the general and small directions of German strikes during the implementation of the main stages of the Barbarossa plan.

A key exhibit is a copy of the handwritten Combat Order of the People's Commissar of Defence No. 2 dated June 22, 1941. This document was composed by G. Zhukov, the Head of the General Staff of the Red Army, three hours after the beginning of the war - at 7:15 am. The order instructed the Red Army "to attack the enemy with all forces and means and destroy them in areas where they violated the Soviet border". The bomber and assault aviation was intended to destroy enemy aircraft at airfields and bases of ground forces "at German territory up to 100-150 kilometres".

The presented map of the heroic defence of the Brest Fortress gives a visual representation of the course of fierce defensive battles. Reports, orders and combat chronicles of the 4th Army in Brest prove the courage and heroism of defenders.

The publication of documents about the beginning of the Great Patriotic War from the collections of the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation is a continuation of the Defence Ministry activities. It aims at preserving and protecting historical truth, countering falsifications of history and attempts to revise the outcomes of World War II.