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The Day of Military Glory of Russia – the Day of the Victory over the Crimean Offensive Operation by Soviet Forces (1944)
On May 12, 1944, the Crimean Strategic Offensive Operation ended, during which the Crimean Peninsula, a significant strategic foothold in the Black Sea theatre of operations, was liberated from German occupation in 35 days. The German 17th Army, under the command of Colonel General E. Eneke, which defended the peninsula, was defeated. To commemorate this event, May 12 was declared the Day of Military Glory in Russia in 2023.
The Crimean Peninsula had been occupied by German and Romanian troops since November 1941. Sevastopol's garrison provided fierce resistance to the invaders and heroically defended the city for 250 days from October 30, 1941, to July 4, 1942, making it the main base for the Black Sea Fleet.
The Nazi leadership planned to turn the Crimean Peninsula, which had a favorable military-strategic location and abundant natural resources, into one of their areas of colonization. At a meeting with the leaders of the Reich on July 16, 1941, Adolf Hitler declared that Crimea should be "liberated from all outsiders" and populated by German settlers. To carry out this plan, the local authorities set up several dozen concentration camps, correctional facilities, filtration camps, and transit camps. During the occupation period from 1941 to 1944, a total of 219,625 people were killed, tortured, or enslaved. Industrial, civilian, and cultural facilities on the peninsula were also destroyed in a barbaric manner.
The headquarters of the Supreme High Command attached great importance to the liberation of the Crimean Peninsula and Sevastopol. This was strategically important, as it improved the conditions for warfare in the Black Sea region and opened up the Balkan flank for German troops.
By November 1943, Soviet troops had broken through the defences on the Perekop Isthmus and captured bridgeheads on the Sivash and Kerch Peninsulas following the Melitopol Offensive (September 26 – November 5) and Kerch-Eltigen Amphibious Operation (October 31 – November 11). However, they were unable to liberate Crimea immediately due to the lack of sufficient forces to overcome the deeply layered defenses of the 17th Army, which numbered more than 195,000 soldiers.
In February 1944, the Soviet command started preparing an offensive operation. The plan was to launch coordinated attacks from the areas of Perekop and Sivash, as well as from the Kerch bridgehead, towards Simferopol and Sevastopol, in order to break up and destroy the German army before they could evacuate from Crimea.
The task was assigned to the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front, led by General F. I. Tolbukhin, and the Separate Coastal Army, led by Army General A. I. Yeremenko. They were supported by the Black Sea Fleet, led by Admiral F. S. Oktyabrsky, the Azov Military Flotilla, led by Rear Admiral S. G. Gorshkov, and the 4th and 8th Air Armies. Partisan combat groups that had been operating in Crimea since 1941 were also involved in attacking the enemy's rear.
Overall, the Soviet strike force numbered approximately 470,000 soldiers.
The operation was scheduled to start on February 18-19, 1944. However, for strategic reasons and due to bad weather, it was first postponed to mid-March and then to April 8. Before the offensive, there was artillery training, which helped destroy some of the defensive structures. This allowed the Soviet forces to break through the Perekop Isthmus defences during two days of intense fighting. On the morning of April 11, they captured the fortress city of Kerch, a stronghold of German resistance on the eastern coast of Crimea. They began chasing German troops retreating towards Sevastopol in all directions. Meanwhile, the Black Sea Fleet attacked enemy naval convoys and individual ships, causing more than 8,000 casualties among German soldiers and officers.
On April 13, Evpatoria, Simferopol, and Feodosiya were freed, and on April 14-15, Bakhchisaray, Alushta, and Yalta were also liberated. Soviet troops reached Sevastopol on April 16.
The first two attempts to breach the defensive lines of the Sevastopol fortified area, on April 19th and 23rd, were unsuccessful. On May 7th, after regrouping, Soviet troops launched a general attack on Sevastopol. During this assault, they broke through the enemy's fortifications and captured Sapun Mountain, a key defensive position on the outskirts of the city. As a result, Sevastopol was liberated on May 9th. By that time, only 6% of the pre-war housing stock remained intact in the city, with only 3,000 out of the 109,000 residents who lived there before the war remaining.
The remnants of the German 17th Army, numbering about 30,000 men, retreated to Cape Chersonesos, where they were defeated by noon on May 12th. 21,000 soldiers and officers were captured.
During the Crimean offensive operation by Soviet troops, the total losses of the German army amounted to over 100,000 people, including more than 61,500 prisoners. Over 40,000 people also died during the evacuation by sea from May 3rd to 13th. The losses of the Red Army totaled 84,800 people, with over 17,700 being irrecoverable.
In recognition of their heroism and skilled actions, 160 formations and units were awarded honorary titles such as Yevpatoria, Kerch, Perekop, Sevastopol, Sivash, Simferopol, Feodosia and Yalta. Additionally, 238 soldiers of the Red Army received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for their bravery.
Lit.: Гужва Г. А., Гужва Д. Г. Преступления немецко-румынских войск в период временной оккупации Крыма 1941–1944 гг. // Военно-исторический журнал Министерства обороны Российской Федерации [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://history.milportal.ru/prestupleniya-nemecko-rumynskix-vojsk-v-period-vremennoj-okkupacii-kryma-1941-1944-gg/; Журбенко В. М. Освобождение Крыма // Военно-исторический журнал. 1994. № 5; Операции Советских Вооружённых Сил в Великой Отечественной войне, 1941–1945. Т. 3. М., 1958; Романько О. В. Крым в период немецкой оккупации (1941–1944). Органы управления, их структуры и функции // Журнал российских и восточноевропейских исторических исследований. 2017. № 4 (11) [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/krym-v-period-nemetskoy-okkupatsii-1941-1944-organy-upravleniya-ih-struktury-i-funktsii; Цепкалова А. Крымская стратегическая наступательная операция 1944 г. // Министерство обороны Российской Федерации [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://stat.mil.ru/winner_may/history/more.htm?id=11914544@cmsArticle.
Based on the Presidential Library's materials:
РГАСПИ. Ф. 17. Оп. 132. Д. 295. Л. 9. Возвращение в Севастополь. [Не ранее 9 мая 1944 г.]
РГАСПИ. Ф. М-7. Оп. 1. Д. 216. Л. 1, 7. Руины Севастополя. [Не ранее 1944 г.]
Коротков И. С. Освобождение Крыма. [М.], 1944
Замятин Н. М. Оборона Севастополя: оперативно-тактический очерк. [М.], 1943
Оборона Севастополя: [фрагменты кинохроники / реж. монтажа Т. И. Дьяконова]. СПб., 2010