The Voronezh–Kharkov strategic offensive operation was a successful strategic offensive operation of the Red Army's Voronezh, Bryansk and South-Western fronts, carried out from January 13 to March 3, 1943 with the aim of defeating the German Army Group B and liberating a large territory and the important industrial and administrative centers Voronezh, Kursk, Belgorod and Kharkov.
Prelude
In the winter of 1942/43, the Red Army launched several large offensives on the southern part of the Eastern Front in the wake of the Battle of Stalingrad. In late December, at the same time as the German 6th Army was increasingly enclosed in Stalingrad by the troops of Konstantin Rokossovsky, the troops of the Southwestern Front defeated the Italian 8th Army as part of the Operation Little Saturn and reached the line Novaya Kalitwa - Markovka - Volozhin - Chernikovsky. The Stawka planned in the course of these successes a major strategic operation, which aimed at cutting off all German forces in the Caucasus, by taking Rostov-on-Don. At the same time, the Voronezh Front, in cooperation with the left wing of the Bryansk Front and the right wing of the Southwestern Front, was tasked with a strong offensive towards Voronezh and Kursk, which aimed to retake Kharkov. The Voronezh-Kharkov strategic offensive operation had 3 phases:
The operation took 50 days. The width of the front of hostilities was between 250-400 km. The depth of advance of Soviet troops was between 360-520 km, or an average daily advance of 7-10 km.
The Voronezh-Kharkov Operation was a clear defeat for Army Group B. The 8th Italian Army and the 2ndHungarian Army were almost completely destroyed. Several large cities were liberated: Voronezh, Kursk, Belgorod, Kharkov, Rossosh, Valuyki, Ostrogozhsk, Kastornoye, Stary Oskol, Novy Oskol, Shchigry, Oboyan, Bogodukhov, Akhtyrka and Sevsk. In the ensuing Third Battle of Kharkov, German troops recaptured Kharkov and Belgorod from the overstretched Soviet Army. During the operation, the Soviets lost in total: 153,561 soldiers, of which 55,475 were killed and 98,086 people were wounded. Axis losses amounted to around 160,000 soldiers of which 77,000 killed.
