Melitopol offensive

The Melitopol Offensive was a successful Soviet offensive operation from September 26 to November 5, 1943, during the Second World War, as part of the second stage of the Battle of the Dnieper. It resulted in the liberation of Melitopol and the entire northern coast of the Sea of Azov.

The operation

After the Donbas strategic offensive (August 1943), the troops of the Southern Front (from October 20, 1943 - the 4th Ukrainian Front) had driven back the German

Molochna River. This was a 2-3 deep defensive line, part of the Panther–Wotan line, with a developed system of trenches, long-range firing structures, numerous anti-tank and anti-personnel barriers. The main center of defense was the city of Melitopol

.

The goal of the Melitopol operation was to break through this line and to access the lower reaches of the Dnieper, cutting off a large German force in the Crimea from the main German Army.

During the offensive, which began on September 26, it was planned to deliver two blows - the main blow with the main forces north of Melitopol (4 armies, 2 tank and 2 cavalry corps) - and a secondary one, by the forces of the 28th Army, from the area south of Melitopol, bypassing the city from the south west.

The offensive was launched with virtually no operational pause at the request of the Headquarters, in order to prevent the enemy from settling on the defensive line. Without proper preparation and reconnaissance, and because of the fatigue of the troops and the depletion of materiel, the Soviet offensive stalled after 5 days with heavy losses, and an advance of only 2–10 km.

From September 30 to October 9, the offensive was temporarily stopped. After a thorough analysis of the situation and finding that

51st Army, tank and cavalry corps to the zone of the 28th Army made it possible to achieve the greatest success in the southern direction, and two weeks after the resumption of the operation, on October 23, Melitopol was liberated by the 51st Army in cooperation with the troops of the 28th Army. At the same time, the troops advancing north of the city also broke through the defenses and cut the Zaporizhzhia

-Melitopol railway line.

A mobile cavalry-mechanized group "Storm" was formed to advance through the gap south of Melitopol, as part of the

Perekop Isthmus

.

By the night of November 5, the troops reached the lower reaches of the Dnieper and captured a bridgehead on the southern bank of the Sivash Bay.
The advancing troops, however, failed to dislodge the enemy from the last bridgehead he occupied on the left bank of the Dnieper south of Nikopol.

Results

As a result of the operation, the troops of the front had advanced 50–320 km to the west and south-west, liberated almost the entire

Right-Bank Ukraine

.

18 most distinguished units and formations received the honorary titles of Melitopol.
For the liberation of the city of Melitopol, 87 soldiers received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, of which 12 soldiers were born in Melitopol.

Sources

the article in the Russian Wikipedia, Мелитопольская операция. ^{[circular reference]}