Jassy–Kishinev Offensive (August 1944)

Jassy–Kishinev Offensive
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Soviet advance, 1943–1944
Date 20–29 August 1944 Location Eastern and southern Romania Result Soviet victory Destruction of the German 6th Army; German forces begin evacuating the Balkans Soviet Union regains control of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina Romania undergoes a coup and defects to the Allies Bulgaria enters the war against Nazi Germany
Belligerents
Soviet Union Romania (23–29 August) Air support only:  United States	Nazi Germany Romania (20–23 August)
Commanders and leaders
Rodion Malinovsky Fyodor Tolbukhin Michael of Romania Constantin Sănătescu Gheorghe Mihail Nicolae Macici Petre Dumitrescu Ilie Șteflea	Adolf Hitler Johannes Friessner Otto Wöhler Maximilian Fretter-Pico Alfred Gerstenberg Ion Antonescu Ilie Șteflea Petre Dumitrescu Ioan Mihail Racoviță
Units involved
see below	see below
Strength
Soviet Union: 1,314,200 men 16 000 guns 1,870 tanks 2,200 aircraft	Germany: Army Group South Ukraine Romania: 1,224,691 men (40 divisions), 170 tanks, 800 aircraft
Casualties and losses
Soviet Union: 13,197 killed or missing 53,933 wounded and sick 75 tanks of which 60 destroyed by the 1st Romanian Armored Division on the first day of the offensive 111 aircraft	Germany: ~100,000 killed 115,000 captured Romania: 8,305 killed 24,989 wounded 170,000 captured or missing 25 aircraft

Soviet victory

The Jassy–Kishinev Operation, named after the two major cities, Iași and Chișinău, in the staging area, was a Soviet offensive against Axis forces, which took place in Eastern Romania from 20 to 29 August 1944 during World War II. The 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts of the Red Army engaged Army Group South Ukraine, which consisted of combined German and Romanian formations, in an operation to reclaim the Moldavian SSR and destroy the Axis forces in the region, opening the way into Romania and the Balkans.

The offensive resulted in the encirclement and destruction of the German forces, allowing the Soviet Army to resume its strategic advance further into Eastern Europe. It also forced Romania to switch allegiance from the Axis powers to the Allies.

The Red Army had made an unsuccessful attack in the same sector, sometimes referred to as First Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, from 8 April to 6 June 1944. In 1944, the Wehrmacht had been pressed back along its entire front line in the East. By May 1944, the South Ukraine Army Group (Heeresgruppe Südukraine) was pushed back towards the prewar Romanian frontier, and managed to establish a line on the lower Dniester River, which was however breached in two places, with the Red Army holding bridgeheads. After June, calm returned to the sector, allowing the rebuilding of the German formations.

Heeresgruppe Südukraine had been, until June 1944, one of the most powerful German formations in terms of armour. However, during the summer most of its armoured units were transferred to the Northern and Central fronts to stem Red Army advances in the Baltic states, Belarus, northern Ukraine, and Poland. On the eve of the offensive, the only armoured formations left were the 1st Romanian Armoured Division (with the Tiger R1), and the German 13th Panzer and 10th Panzergrenadier Divisions.

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Wikipedia