Battle of Kiev (1941) 1941
![Kraagranger [Kraayvanger]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-B12190,_Kiew,_Brand_in_der_Hauptstra%C3%9Fe.jpg){kind=link}
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1941 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Ukraine | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Operation Barbarossa | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 50.4536, 30.5164 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The First Battle of Kiev or Kiev operation, known as the Battle of Kiev on the German side (German: Schlacht bei Kiew), was a major battle that resulted in an encirclement of Soviet troops in the vicinity of Kiev during World War II, the capital and most populous city of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. This encirclement is the largest in the history of warfare by number of troops. The battle lasted from 7 July to 26 September 1941 as part of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. Although it is known as the "Battle of Kiev", the city played only a peripheral role in the overall battle; for the Soviets, a strategic defensive operation. The battle took place over a large area in eastern Ukraine, with Kiev being the focal point of Soviet defenses and of the German encirclement.
Much of the Southwestern Front of the Red Army, commanded by Mikhail Kirponos, was encircled, but small groups of Red Army troops managed to escape the pocket in the days after the German panzers attacked east of the city, including the forces of Marshal Semyon Budyonny, Marshal Semyon Timoshenko and Commissar Nikita Khrushchev. Kirponos was trapped behind German lines and was killed while trying to break out.
The battle was an unprecedented defeat for the Red Army, and was more damaging than the Battle of Białystok–Minsk of June–July 1941.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Kiev (1941) (revision 1375276817), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Kiev offensive (1920) 1920 · 0 km
- Battle of Kiev (1943) 1943 · 1 km
- Battle of Kiev (1918) 1918 · 1 km
- Siege of Kiev (1240) 1240 · 1 km
- Siege of Kyiv (1658) 1658 · 1 km
- Siege of Kiev (1036) 1036 · 1 km
Other battles of the Operation Barbarossa
All 4 battles of the Operation Barbarossa →
Browse more: battles in Ukraine · Europe · World War II era battles