Operation München

Filipp Oktyabrskiy

Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region, ceded by Romania to the Soviet Union a year before (Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina).^[6] The operation concluded successfully after 24 days of fighting. Axis formations involved included the Romanian Third and the Fourth Armies and the German Eleventh Army.^[7] The invasion was followed by a genocide against the Jewish population of Bessarabia.^[8]

Vânători de Munte Battalions. On 16 July, Chișinău, the Bessarabian capital, was seized after heavy fighting by Romanian forces spearheaded by the 1st Romanian Armored Division (Divizia 1 Blindată), equipped mainly with 126 R-2 light tanks. By 26 July, the entire region was under Romanian-German control. On 17 August, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina were formally re-integrated into the Romanian state.^[9]

Kiliya and Vylkove.^[10][11]

action preceding the operation by several days.^{[citation needed}

Ismail. Like on the previous day, the Romanian monitor scored a direct hit against her Soviet foe, despite the latter's fierce return fire. Udarnyy continued firing while retreating, but yet again, no damage was inflicted upon the Romanian warship.^[14]

IAR-80s). This mixed force swept the Soviets from the sky before decimating Soviet ground forces (artillery, troops, transports and tanks). In one instance, IAR-80 pilot Vasile Claru ran out of ammunition after destroying three of the six Polikarpovs pursuing him. Consequently, he rammed his plane into a fourth, killing a deputy Soviet squadron commander (M. Shamanov), but Claru himself didn't survive the crash either. Ultimately, the Soviet counteroffensive was repulsed with heavy losses. By 26 July, the Romanians had established air supremacy over Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. They flew a total of 5,100 missions, claiming 88 enemy aircraft shot down in aerial combat plus 108 destroyed on the ground for the cost of 58 of their own aircraft. An additional 59 Soviet aircraft were shot down by Romanian flak.^[16]