Vilnius offensive
Soviet operational offensive / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about the 1944 battle for Vilnius between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht. For combat between the Polish Home Army and the Wehrmacht, see Operation Ostra Brama. For the 1919 battle, see Vilna offensive.
The Vilnius offensive (Lithuanian: Vilniaus operacija; Russian: Вильнюсская наступательная операция, lit. 'Vilnius offensive operation') occurred as part of the third phase of Operation Bagration, the Soviet Red Army's strategic summer offensive against the German Wehrmacht in June and July 1944. It lasted from 5 July to 13 July 1944 and ended with a Soviet victory.
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Quick Facts Date, Location ...
Vilnius offensive | |||||||
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Part of Operation Bagration and the Eastern Front | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Polish Underground State Air support: France | Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ivan Chernyakhovsky Pavel Rotmistrov |
Walter Model Dietrich von Saucken Rainer Stahel Theodor Tolsdorff | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
13,000 | 7,700 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
50–70 tanks destroyed | 8,000 killed; 5,000 captured in Vilnius alone (Soviet estimate) |
Close
During the offensive, Soviet forces encircled and captured the city of Vilnius; this phase is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Vilnius. However, 3,000 German soldiers of the encircled garrison managed to break out with their commander, Reiner Stahel.