Malaya Zemlya

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44°41′20″N 37°47′49″E / 44.689°N 37.797°E / 44.689; 37.797

Malaya Zemlya
Part of the Battle of the Caucasus in the Eastern Front in the European theatre of World War II
Date 4 February 1943 Location Novorossiysk, Soviet Union Result Soviet Victory
Belligerents
Soviet Union	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Major Tsezar Kunikov (DOW)	Unknown
Strength
800	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

Malaya Zemlya (Russian: Малая Земля, lit. "Small Land") was a Soviet uphill outpost on Cape Myskhako (Russian: Мысхако), situated westward from Tsemes Bay on the Black Sea, that was recaptured after battles with the Germans during the Battle of the Caucasus on the night of 4 February 1943. The episode paved way for a Soviet attack on German forces in Novorossiysk.

Cape Myskhako is associated with a stand made by the 800-strong contingent of the Soviet Naval Infantry against the Germans during the Second World War. The special forces were dropped during winter high storms by the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, after the unsuccessful landing attempt at Malajia Ozereevka. The landing at Malaya Zemlya had aimed to be a decoy, but after a second landing at Bolshaia Ozereevka was lost in an ambush, the offensive plan was reworked and the landing site at Malaya Zemlya was made the main landing location. Upon landing to secure the beachhead, they came under a German counter-offensive with air support.

The marines held their ground. The leader of the group, the major Tsezar Kunikov, was mortally wounded and died on 14 February 1943. He was posthumously awarded the highest Soviet honor Hero of the Soviet Union.

The battle was the subject of the first book of Brezhnev's trilogy, which exaggerated Leonid Brezhnev's role in the Eastern Front.

A notable casualty of this battle was chess master Mark Stolberg, who went missing during the battle.^[1]