Battle of Uman | |||||||
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Part of the Eastern Front of World War II | |||||||
The eastern front at the time of the Battle of Uman. |
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Belligerents | |||||||
Germany Romania Hungary Slovakia |
Soviet Union | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt Colonel General Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel |
Marshal Semyon Budyonny Colonel General Mikhail Kirponos Colonel General Ivan Tyulenev |
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Strength | |||||||
400,000 600 tanks |
300,000 317 tanks and 858 guns |
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
Total: 20,853 Killed: 4,610 Wounded: 15,458 Captured or Missing: 785 |
Total: 203,000 Killed or wounded: 100,000 Captured: 103,000 Captured or Destroyed: 317 tanks |
The Battle of Uman (15 July – 8 August 1941) was the German and allied encirclement of the 6th and 12th Soviet Armies—under the command of Lieutenant General I. N. Muzyrchenko and Major General P. G. Ponedelin, respectively—south of the city of Uman during the initial offensive operations of German Army Group South, commanded by Generalfeldmarshall Gerd von Rundstedt, as part of Operation Barbarossa on the Eastern Front during World War II.
The battles occurred during the Kiev defensive operation between the elements of the Red Army's Southwestern Front defending the Southern Bug bridges and the strategic rail road between Odessa and Smolensk, and elements of 1st Panzer Army in Western Ukraine during the latter's advance from southern Poland to Crimea.
The Soviet forces were under overall command of the Southwestern Direction, commanded by Marshal Semyon Budyonny, which included the Southwestern Front commanded by Colonel General Mikhail Kirponos. The headquarters and many subunits of the 12th Army were able to evade the encirclement due to the inability of the German infantry formations to fully close the cauldron, however both armies were later disbanded, and escaping troops were incorporated into other units. This was among the large Axis encirclements that were executed against the Red Army.