Operation Barbarossa: The German invasion of the Soviet Union, launched on 22 June 1941

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Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, the largest military invasion in history, attacking the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. More than three million German and Axis troops surged across a vast front stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, catching Soviet forces largely unprepared. The offensive aimed to destroy the Soviet state in a rapid campaign, seize key cities such as Leningrad, Moscow, and Kyiv, and secure valuable resources for the German war effort.

The opening weeks brought dramatic German advances and devastating losses for the Red Army, with hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers killed, wounded, or captured. However, the Soviet Union avoided collapse, relocating industries eastward and mobilizing millions of additional troops. What began on this week in 1941 evolved into a brutal four-year struggle on the Eastern Front, a conflict that would ultimately play a decisive role in the defeat of Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

Collection: world-war-2 - Tags: operation-barbarossa, world-war-2, 1941 - Source: instagram.com