Siege of Leningrad lifted

The encircled German Sixth Army surrendered, ending the battle. Soviet victory shifted the military balance, but the city and surrounding communities had suffered extraordinary destruction and loss of...

Germany launched a major offensive against the Soviet salient at Kursk. Soviet defenses and counterattacks stopped the advance and helped secure the strategic initiative, at immense human and material...

Soviet forces recaptured Kyiv after German occupation and mass murder, including the destruction of much of its Jewish community. The city’s liberation did not erase the trauma of occupation or the...

Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill met to coordinate military strategy and discuss the postwar order. Iran hosted the conference while under Allied occupation, underscoring how global planning...

The United States, Britain, and Soviet Union affirmed Iran’s independence and territorial integrity and promised economic assistance. The declaration addressed commitments made by occupying powers...

Soviet authorities deported Chechens and Ingush to Central Asia and Siberia, accusing entire populations of collaboration. The operation involved forced transport, deaths, abolition of the...

Soviet authorities forcibly deported the Balkar population to Central Asia and Siberia and later abolished their autonomous district. Collective punishment based on ethnicity transformed the...

The NKVD began deporting Crimean Tatars to Central Asia, accusing the population collectively of collaboration. The removal destroyed homes and community life; the Crimean ASSR was later abolished and...

The Soviet offensive against German forces in Belarus liberated occupied territory and destroyed much of Germany’s Army Group Centre. Belarusian civilians endured occupation, mass murder, village...

The Red Army launched an offensive that drove German forces west and brought Soviet troops into central Europe. It advanced the defeat of Nazi Germany while extending Soviet military and political...