Creating the Korsun Pocket

After its victory at Kursk in July 1943, the Soviet Red Army relentlessly pushed the Germans back. Although Kiev and a large part of the Ukraine were liberated, six months of constant fighting saw no major breakthroughs. That would change …

1944-01-25

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After its victory at Kursk in July 1943, the Soviet Red Army relentlessly pushed the Germans back. Although Kiev and a large part of the Ukraine were liberated, six months of constant fighting saw no major breakthroughs. That would change when the Germans attempted to form a defensive line on the Dnieper River in the winter of'1943-1944. Operation Korsun-Shevchenkovskii was the first Soviet attempt at encirclement since Stalingrad more than a year earlier. The attack began on 25 January 1944, and three days later the Soviet armored spearheads met from opposite directions along a narrow breakthrough corridor. Inside the pocket at least six understrength German divisions were trapped.

Cherkassy, Russia

The Battle of the Korsun–Cherkasy Pocket was a World War II battle fought from 24 January to 16 February 1944 in the course of the Soviet Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive in Ukraine following the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Offensive. In the battle, theist and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts, commanded, respectively, by Nikolai Vatutin and Ivan Konev, encircled German forces of Army Group South in a pocket near the Dnieper River. During weeks of fighting, the two Red Army Fronts tried to eradicate the pocket. The encircled German units attempted a breakout in coordination with a relief attempt by other German forces, resulting in heavy casualties, estimates of which vary.

Wikipedia: Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket

German

Russian