Baltic Operation (1941)

Part of The Eastern Front of World War II

Execution of operation 22.06.1941 - 10.07.1941

Date	22 June-9 July 1941
Location	Baltic Countries, USSR
Result	Successful German Offensive

Belligerents

Germany

Soviet Union

Commanders and leaders

Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb

Fyodor Isodorovich Kuznetsov

Strength

655,000, 7,673 guns and mortars, 1,389 tanks, 1,070 aircraft

498,000, 5,573 guns and mortars, 1,393 tanks, 1,210 aircraft

Casualties and losses

n/a

Total: 88,486
Killed: 75,202
Wounded: 13,284
Destroyed: 2,523 tanks and SPGs, 990 aircraft

The Baltic Operation, also known as the Defensive operation in Lithuania and Latvia encompassed the operations of the Red Army from 22 June to 9 July 1941 conducted over the territories of the occupied Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in response to an offensive launched by the German army.

The operation consisted of three distinct smaller operations

The principal Red Army formations of the operation were the Northwestern Front and the Baltic Fleet, with the major ground forces consisting of the 8th (commander General Major P.P. Sobennikov), 11th (commander General Lieutenant Morozov) and later 27th Armies.

The operation was conducted after the forces of the Baltic Special Military District were alerted in the morning of 22 June 1941 following a surprise attack by the German Wehrmacht's Army Group North which consisted of the 18th, 16th Field Armies and the 4th Panzer Group, and elements of the 3rd Panzer Group, supported by the Luftflotte 1.

On 22 June, the Soviet 8th Army was positioned in northern Lithuania opposed by the German 18th Army. The Soviet 11th Army defended the rest of the Lithuanian border with East Prussia and sought to contain the attacks of the German 16th Army and the 4th Panzer Group.

While the Soviet 8th Army retreated along the Jelgava–Riga–Tartu–Narva–Pskov direction, the Soviet 11th Army sought to initially hold the Kaunas–Vilnius sector of the front, but was forced to retreat along the Daugavpils–Pskov–Novgorod direction. These withdrawals, although costly in losses of personnel and materiel, avoided major encirclements experienced by the Fronts to the south, and succeeded in delaying the Army Group North sufficiently to allow preparation for the defence of Leningrad.

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