Ukraina 1941

On June 22, 1941, the largest of the campaigns of the Second World War began. Along the entire line separating Germany from the Soviet Union and on the borderland of the satellites of the Third Reich, fights began.

From the first hours the advantage was gained by Germany. The Red Army was completely surprised at its positions. And although both Stalin's troops had a decisive advantage in terms of strength and accumulated forces (tanks, planes, and guns), the experience of the Germans and their tactics led everywhere to the successive defeats of the Soviet army. The strikes from the San and Bug lines were made by two German armies: the 6th and 17th as well as the 1st Panzer Group. Two Romanian armies were to attack from Romania: the 3rd and 4th and the German 11th Army. Their opponents were the Front and Southwest troops.

The first German strikes immediately pushed the defenders from the positions advanced in the area of occupied Poland and forced a massive, even panic retreat to the east. All seven mechanized corps were sent to the counter-attacks, but the ineffectual command and complete decoupling of the Soviet troops caused further defeats. The beginning of Barbarossa's operation was very promising for the Germans, but with each subsequent month the situation became more and more difficult.