The second Smolensk operation was a Soviet strategic offensive operation conducted by the Red Army as part of the Summer-Autumn Campaign of 1943. Staged almost simultaneously with the Lower Dnieper Of
Yelena Zalogina, employed as forced labor by German troops, returns home with her children, August 1943
Red Army soldiers raising the Soviet flag in Yelnya
Soviet submachine gunners clearing buildings in Dukhovshchina
Officers of the Soviet 91st Guards Rifle Division raising their divisional banner over Dukhovshchina, 19 September
The first Battle of Smolensk was a battle during the second phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, in World War II. It was fought around the city of Smolensk between 10
Smolensk operation
…Western Front. Its goal was to clear the German presence from the Smolensk and Bryansk regions. Smolensk had been under German occupation since the first Battle of Smolensk in 1941. Despite an impressive German defense, the Red Army was able to stage several breakthroughs, liberating several major cities, including Smolensk…
German and Soviet movements near Smolensk, 10 July – 4 August
German vehicle column near Vitebsk in July 1941
German soldiers on horseback in a burning village near Mogilev at the Dnieper. The Red Army has been driven out by German artillery fire.
Collective farmer Savely Stepanchenko and his grandson, residents of a village near Dorogobuzh, in a shelter that they used to hide from German soldiers