Orsha offensives (1943)

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Orsha offensives
Part of The Eastern Front of World War II
Date October 12, 1943 – November 19, 1943 Location Orsha region, Belarus, Soviet Union 54°30′N 30°25′E / 54.50°N 30.42°E / 54.50; 30.42 Result German defensive victory
Belligerents
Soviet Union	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Vasily Sokolovsky	Gotthard Heinrici
Strength
Western Front 310,900 men, with steady reinforcements	4th Army 193,510 men; heavy fortifications
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Orsha offensives were a series of battles fought in Belarus between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht during the autumn of 1943, and into the following winter. Orsha was a main road junction with the north–south route from Leningrad to Kiev and the east–west route from Minsk to Moscow. After the failure of Operation Typhoon in the winter of 1941, Army Group Centre had spent the most part on the defensive in the central sector of the front. The time afforded to them in 1942, a distinct period of inactivity in this area, allowed the Wehrmacht to build formidable defensive positions.