January 27, 1944 - the day of the complete liberation of the city of Leningrad by Soviet troops from the blockade
Operation January Thunder
January 27, 1944 - the day of the complete liberation of the city of Leningrad by Soviet troops from the blockade
The terrible blockade of Leningrad, which claimed over 950 thousand lives of ordinary citizens and soldiers who fell in battle, lasted 872 days. Almost two and a half years - from September 1941 to January 1944, Nazi troops surrounded the city on the Neva, killing it daily with hunger, bombing and artillery shelling.
The Soviet troops managed to break through the blockade only in January 1943, but the blockade was completely lifted only a year later. Then, during the offensive operation "January Thunder", our troops by January 27, 1944 drove the invaders far from Leningrad. Now this date is celebrated as the Day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade, and January 27 is one of the Days of Russia's Military Glory.
The final lifting of the blockade from the second most important city in the USSR was a very difficult task. For more than two years, the Germans prepared several powerful fortification lines here, in the direction of the main attack, units of the 3rd SS Panzer Corps held the defense. Near Leningrad, the Germans concentrated most of the heavy artillery of the Third Reich, including all captured guns collected in the captured countries of Europe.
Heavy artillery, freed after the capture of Sevastopol by the Germans, was also transferred here. In total, there were 256 powerful artillery guns near Leningrad, including 210-mm and 305-mm Czechoslovakian mortars "Skoda", 400-mm railway French howitzers and 420-mm German mortars "Fat Bertha". This artillery group not only bombarded Leningrad every day, but also ensured the special strength of the German defense lines.
In January 1944, three Soviet fronts were preparing for the operation to lift the blockade - Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic. By this time, they numbered about 820 thousand soldiers and officers, almost 20 thousand guns and mortars. They were opposed by the 16th and 18th German armies of Army Group "North" - 740 thousand soldiers and officers, over 10 thousand guns and mortars.
Directly near Leningrad, the Soviet command managed to create superiority over the enemy - 400 thousand fighters against 170 thousand from the Germans, our 600 tanks and self-propelled guns against 200 German, about 600 aircraft against 370 German. However, near Leningrad, for the siege and shelling of the city, the Germans concentrated a serious artillery group - 4,500 guns and mortars. The Soviet artillery group here numbered about 6,000 cannons, mortars and rocket launchers. Thus, the battles for the final liberation of Leningrad from the blockade turned into the most powerful confrontation between the artillery kulaks in the entire Second World War.
Military equipment near St. Isaac's Cathedral. Photo: Anatoly Egorov / RIA Novosti
The operation being developed at the Headquarters of the Supreme Command was codenamed "January Thunder". In preparation for the operation on January 1-3, 1944, its details were discussed and agreed upon by Stalin himself and his closest ally Andrei Zhdanov, who flew in from Leningrad, who had been carrying out the highest state leadership in the surrounded city for all the years of the blockade.
Returning from Stavka, at the last meeting of the headquarters of the Leningrad Front on the eve of the offensive, Zhdanov uttered the following words: “They praise us and thank us for defending the city of Russian glory, for being able to defend it. Now we need to be praised by the Soviet people for heroism and skill in offensive battles …"
For more than two years of the blockade, the troops of the Leningrad Front had proved their heroism in defense, but now they had to attack and break through the well-prepared enemy positions. While developing Operation January Thunder, the Soviet command envisioned a simultaneous strike from Leningrad and from the Oranienbaum bridgehead - a small patch on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, which Soviet troops had been holding during the blockade since 1941.
Our offensive began on January 14, 1944 at 10:40 am after a powerful 65-minute artillery barrage. During the first day, Soviet troops advanced 4 km, occupying the entire first line of enemy defense with stubborn battles. The next day, the offensive continued after a 110-minute artillery barrage. For three days our troops literally "gnawed" the lines of the German defense - the enemy fought back desperately in well-prepared positions, constantly going over to counterattacks. The German defense was effectively supported by powerful artillery, a mass of fortifications and numerous minefields.
By January 17, Soviet troops managed to break through the long-term defenses of the enemy and enter the 152nd tank brigade, formed in besieged Leningrad back in 1942, into the breakthrough. Its T-34 tanks broke through to Ropsha, German troops between Leningrad and the Oranienbaum bridgehead were under the threat of encirclement. The Hitlerite command had to begin the retreat of its troops near Volkhov in order to free up part of the reserves to parry the Soviet offensive near Leningrad.
However, the enemy failed to stop the "January Thunder" - on the morning of January 20, 1944, Soviet troops advancing from the Oranienbaum bridgehead and from Leningrad, meeting south of the village of Ropasha, encircling and then destroying part of the enemy's grouping. In just six days of continuous fighting, the troops of the Leningrad Front completely destroyed two German divisions, inflicting significant damage on five more enemy divisions. In addition, a German artillery group created specifically for shelling Leningrad was destroyed north of Krasnoe Selo. 265 guns were captured, including 85 heavy mortars and howitzers. The shelling of the city on the Neva, which had lasted for two years, was stopped forever.
For the next week, Soviet troops continued their offensive, pushing the enemy farther from Leningrad. On January 24, the city of Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo) was liberated with its famous palaces plundered by the German invaders.
During the January offensive, the troops of the Leningrad Front lost about 20 thousand people in killed. The losses of the Germans near Leningrad from January 14 to 26 amounted to about 18 thousand killed and over 3 thousand prisoners.
The result of the offensive operation "January Thunder" was the complete lifting of the blockade of Leningrad, our troops broke through the well-prepared defense of the enemy and threw him back at a distance of 60-100 km from the city. At the end of January, the attacking troops of the Leningrad Front reached the Estonian border.
On January 27, 1944, in agreement with Stalin, the command of the Leningrad Front officially announced the final lifting of the blockade. In the city on the Neva, a victorious salute was given for the first time - 24 volleys from 324 guns.
On that day, the address of the command to the troops and residents of the city said: “Citizens of Leningrad! Courageous and persistent Leningraders! Together with the troops of the Leningrad Front, you defended our hometown. With your heroic labor and steel endurance, overcoming all the difficulties and torments of the blockade, you forged the weapon of victory over the enemy, giving all your strength to the cause of victory. On behalf of the troops of the Leningrad Front, we congratulate you on the momentous day of the great victory near Leningrad."
