Odessa Offensive

Odessa Offensive
Part of the Dnieper–Carpathian offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II
T-34's, with tank riders on them, advance near the Razdelnaya railway station in the vicinity of Odessa, April 1944. Photo taken by Olga Lander
Date Offensive phase: 26 March-14 April 1944[1] Expansion of bridgeheads on the western bank of the Dniester: 15-30 April 1944[2] Location Southern Ukraine Result Soviet victory Territorial changes Soviets fully reclaim the southern part of the Ukrainian SSR
Belligerents
Soviet Union	Germany Romania Slovakia
Commanders and leaders
Rodion Malinovsky	Ferdinand Schörner (Army Group South Ukraine) Maximilian de Angelis (6th Army) Petre Dumitrescu (3rd Army)
Units involved
3rd Ukrainian Front	Army Group South Ukraine: - 6th Army - 3rd Army - 1st Infantry Division
Strength
3rd Ukrainian Front on 28 March 1944:[3] - 470,000 men in total - 12,678 guns and mortars - 435 tanks and self-propelled guns in total - 436 combat aircraft	6th Army on 1 April 1944: - 188,551 men in total[4] 3rd Army on 19 April 1944: - 38,000 men in total[5] (Romanian divisions only, without the 14th Inf. Div.) 1st Infantry Division: - 5,500 men in total[6] (as of 19 April 1944)
Casualties and losses
Unknown personnel losses 120 tanks and self-propelled guns destroyed 65 tanks and self-propelled guns damaged	6th Army losses in April 1944:[7] - 4,672 killed - 16,205 wounded - 6,014 missing - 6,479 sick - 33,370 in total 3rd Army Unknown 1st Infantry Division Unknown

The Odessa Offensive Operation (Russian: Одесская Наступательная Операция, Odesskaya Nastupatel'naya Operatsiya), known on the German side as the Defensive battle of the 6th Army between Bug and Dniester (German: Abwehrschlacht der 6. Armee zwischen Bug und Dnjestr), was an offensive operation conducted in southern Ukraine by the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front against the German 6th Army and Romanian 3rd Army of Army Group South Ukraine (until 5 April 1944 Army Group A) in late March–April 1944. It was part of the second phase of the Dnieper-Carpathian Strategic Offensive.

The offensive followed the Soviet Bereznegovatoye–Snigirevka offensive launched in early March that pushed the German 6th Army back behind the Southern Bug river and captured several bridgeheads across the river. After expanding and consolidating the bridgeheads, the Odessa Offensive began on 28 March. The 3rd Ukrainian Front sought to rout the Axis forces between the Southern Bug and Dniester rivers, liberate the northwestern coast of the Black Sea, including the major port city of Odessa, and reach the Soviet-Romanian border on the Dniester. On the first day, Soviet units advancing along the Black Sea coast captured the important port of Nikolayev, while those in the northern sector broke through, spearheaded by Pliev's Cavalry-Mechanized Group.

These Soviet penetrations threatened both flanks of the 6th Army and as a result it began a hasty retreat along the entire front. In the course of this retreat in early April 1944, the 6th Army sustained further heavy personnel losses and lost a considerable part of its artillery, anti-tank guns, motor and armoured vehicles in the mud. With the Cavalry-Mechanized Group capturing the important Razdelnaya railway station on 4 April 1944, the front of the 6th Army was split in two – one part being pushed back to Tiraspol area, the other being enveloped from the northwest and pressed against Odessa. The threat of encirclement loomed for the latter part.

On the evening of 9 April, Soviet units reached the outskirts of Odessa, with German-Romanian forces and their rear services making a chaotic withdrawal to the Ovidiopol area, the only open path left, after which they crossed the Dniester Estuary. By 10 a.m. on 10 April, Odessa was completely cleared from Axis forces. Between 10 and 14 April, all across the front, the Red Army pursued the German forces to the Dniester, with first Soviet units reaching its eastern bank on 11 April. On 12 April, the Soviets took Tiraspol, an important supply and communication center, situated along the Dniester. Soviet troops forced crossings of the Dniester and seized several bridgeheads in mid-April, fighting to expand them for the remainder of the month. German counterattacks, overextended supply lines, and unfavorable weather forced a halt to the Soviet offensive on 6 May.