Belgorod-Kharkov Strategic Counter-offensive Operation

Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Date 3–23 August 1943 Location Kharkov region, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union Result Soviet victory
Belligerents
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Erich von Manstein	Ivan Konev
Strength
200,000 men 237 tanks and assault guns at the outset	1,144,000 men 2,418 tanks 13,633 guns and rocket launchers
Casualties and losses
30,000 10,000 killed or missing 20,000 wounded 240 tanks lost unknown guns	255,566 71,611 killed or missing 183,955 wounded 1,864 tanks lost 423 artillery guns 153 aircraft

30,000

255,566

The Belgorod-Kharkov Strategic Offensive Operation, or simply Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation, was a Soviet strategic summer offensive that aimed to recapture Belgorod and Kharkov (now Kharkiv)^a , and destroy the German forces of the 4th Panzer Army and Army Detachment Kempf. The operation was codenamed Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev (Russian: Полководец Румянцев), after the 18th-century Field Marshal Peter Rumyantsev and was conducted by the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts in the southern sector of the Kursk Bulge. The battle was referred to as the Fourth Battle of Kharkov by the Germans.

The operation began in the early hours of 3 August 1943, with the objective of following up the successful Soviet defensive effort against the German Operation Citadel. The offensive was directed against the German Army Group South's northern flank. By 23 August, the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts had successfully seized Kharkov from German forces. It was the last time that Kharkov changed hands during the Soviet-German War. The operation led to the retreat of the German forces in Ukraine behind the Dnieper River and set the stage for the Battle of Kiev in autumn 1943.

Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev had been planned by Stavka to be the major Soviet summer offensive in 1943. However, due to heavy losses sustained during the Battle of Kursk in July, time was needed for the Soviet formations to recover and regroup. Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev commenced on 3 August, with the aim of the defeating the 4th Panzer Army, Army Group Kempf, and the southern wing of Army Group South. It was also hoped that the German 1st Panzer Army and the newly reformed 6th Army would be trapped by an advance of the Red Army forces to the Azov Sea.

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