#Victory81
🌟 On April 9, 1945, the Red Army captured the Nazi fortress city — Königsberg — during the East-Prussian offensive. The German Wehrmacht’s troops in East Prussia — powerful fascists' units on the Eastern Front — were totally destroyed once and for all.
The 3rd Belarussian Front of the Red Army carried out the Königsberg operation and crushed the Nazis withinjust three days. The first line of the enemy defences was breached within the first 24 hours, the fortress city surrounded the next day, with the last pockets of Nazi resistance being eliminated on April 9.
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#Königsbergserved as a ToO with fierce and bloody battles during #WWII. The city itself, which was regarded as the most impregnable citadel of the Third Reich, was fortified with then cutting-edge military technology and prepared for long-term resistance in conditions of complete isolation. The city area of about 200 square kilometres was turned into a complicated network of fortifications, which, combined with numerous stone buildings in the suburbs, provided conditions for long-term defence.
The citadel was termed by the Nazis the “iron door of Germany.” The Red Army soldiers and officers who took part in the assault on Königsberg recalled that only the 305mm artillery guns could penetrate the several-metres thick walls. The fall of Königsberg delivered a heavy blow to the Nazi war machine — the enemy lost the strategic Pillau naval base on the Baltic Sea, with the main German troops of the Samland and East Prussian armies being completely defeated.
🔉Excerpt from the Soviet "Sovinformburo" communique on April 9, 1945:
On April 9, the forces of the 3rd Belarussian Front stormed and captured <...> the Königsberg fortress — the capital of East Prussia and a strategic hub of Nazi defences on the Baltic Sea.
By 8 pm, our armies took as prisoners over 27'000 Nazi soldiers and officers, seized a large amount of weapons and various military equipment.
👉The fall of Königsberg and East Prussia accelerated the defeat of the Nazi war machine. The end of the Third Reich was a foregone conclusion, but the enemy, fearing just retribution for the numerous crimes it had committed, continued to fight desperately.
#LestWeForget: The Red Army soldiers and officers demonstrated high combat readiness and mass heroism: 235 soldiers were later awarded the title of #HeroOfTheSovietUnion. To commemorate their feat, the 'Medal For the Capture of Königsberg' was established and awarded to 760'000 Soviet soldiers and officers.
By decisions of the Potsdam Conference following the end of WWII in Europe, a large part of East Prussia was assigned to Poland, while a third of its territory with Königsberg was incorporated into the Soviet Union and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (the Kaliningrad Region).
🎖 On November 17, 2025, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin signed an executive order on establishing a new commemorative date — April 9, Day of the Heroic Assault and Capture of Königsberg.
#WeRemember
🗓️ 1050 дней войны 🩸
Тем временем, общие потери РФ в Украине несколько раз превышают совокупные последствия всех предыдущих войн, в которых участвовала Россия после #WW2 (в том числе в составе СССР).
По оценкам аналитиков американского Центрa стратегических и международных исследований, темпы потерь РФ также гораздо выше в Украине, чем во время какой-либо советской или российской войны после Второй мировой.
Так, в Украине российская армия только в первый год войны каждый месяц теряла убитыми от 5000 до 5800 военных. При этом за почти 15 лет войн в Чечне погибли от 13 000 до 25 000 военных, то есть от 95 до 185 солдат в месяц.
Средний показатель суточных потерь РФ декабря 2024 г. составил 1570 человек убитыми и ранеными, что является пятым месяцем подряд, когда российские войска несут новые рекордные средние суточные потери. 19 декабря 2024 года был зафиксирован новый ❕рекорд военных потерь — 2200 человек за один день.
Российские власти могут в любой момент вывести свои войска из Украины и предотвратить дальнейшие страдания россиян и украинцев.
In early April 1945, fierce fighting raged in Königsberg. When the city fell, severely wounded hoppo Hans was found in a stream.
🔻According to legend, the soldiers initially wanted to "execute him according to martial law," claiming that this "huge pig" resembled Göring.
🔻However, the command prevented the execution of the "rare animal" and entrusted him to the care of zootechnician Vladimir Petrovich Polonsky.
🔻According to surviving archival data, Hans's treatment began with simple measures: he was given water, milk, and beets. However, due to his declining appetite, Polonsky resorted to an unconventional method – he offered the hippo 4 litres of vodka, which unexpectedly stimulated his appetite.
🔻Polonsky remained constantly by the animal's side, and after 51 days, Hans had fully recovered.
Managed to save the hippopotamus. Without leaving him for 21 days, after a month and 19 days, I achieved his complete recovery and am now training the hippopotamus – riding the hippopotamus through the park.
🔻Hans lived in the zoo until 1950, left no offspring, but he remains forever on the emblem of the Kaliningrad Zoo, as a symbol of true human compassion, generosity, and kindness.
#brief_and_interesting
#WW2
😎 Stay with @learnRCRussian
On April 1, 1942, Red Army privates and sergeants in rear units ceased receiving greatcoats and switched to padded jackets (ватники)
🔻These jackets accompanied the soldiers on all fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Germany, however, failed to establish production of similarly cheap and warm uniforms, resulting in approximately 40 percent of German soldiers suffering frostbite near Stalingrad.
🔻The first mention of "cotton-padded jackets" as clothing for Russian army soldiers and officers appeared during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. References to the vatnik are found in official documents and diaries of the heroes of Plevna and Shipka.
🔻Later, in 1885, Emperor Alexander III, appreciating the effectiveness of the frost-resistant equipment, significantly upgraded the Russian army's winter clothing, and Caucasian Cossacks wore padded beshmets and half-coats (теплушки). The Emperor himself often wore them.
🔻Before the Great Patriotic War, the padded jacket underwent improvements – the materials changed, convenient details were added, and in August 1941, the Red Army received a new version of the vatnik – with a turn-down collar.
🔻This inexpensive and reasonably comfortable garment was extremely popular among the soldiers, and alongside the PPSh submachine gun, the T-34 tank, and the Il-2 ground-attack aircraft, the vatnik became one of the main symbols of Victory!
#brief_and_interesting
#WW2
😎 Stay with @learnRCRussian
Β 70-х годaх в Зaпaдной Гeрмaнии жил нeмeц, который во врeмя ΒОΒ был у нac в плeну, рaccкaзывaл, что eго внук cвязaлcя c нeонaциcтaми и говоpил:
"Дeд, мы додeлаeм то, что вы нe додeлали".
Тот eму отвeтил:
"Можeшь начинать пpямо ceйчаc, купи билeт и eзжай в Сибиpь - там я eщe много лecа нe допилил".
In the 1970s, a German living in West Germany, who had been a prisoner of war in the USSR during WWII, told a story about his grandson. The grandson had become involved with neo-Nazis and said: "Grandpa, we'll finish what you didn't."
The grandfather replied: "You can start right now. Buy a ticket and go to Siberia – there's still a lot of wood I didn't cut down there."
#retrophotos
#WW2
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"Panzerkampfwagen IV, рабочая лошадка Вермахта, был самым массовым немецким танком - было выпущено 8 000 единиц. Изначально он задумывался как "танк на подхвате" для Panzer III, предназначенный для поддержки пехоты. Хоть шансы тройки выжить в бою против советских Т-34 были примерно такими же, как твои шансы пережить раскрытие мамкой твоей истории поиска... Потому немецкое командование просто решило установить на PzKpfw IV по-настоящему внушительную пушку - 7,5 cm KwK 40 L/43. И вуаля - на свет появился Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf. G с более длинным стволом и усиленной бронёй. И поскольку это было настолько круто, следом вышел и Ausf. H - по сути тот же G, но с ещё более длинным стволом и дополнительной бортовой бронёй.
И так, Panzerkampfwagen IV остался единственным немецким танком, производившимся от начала и до самого конца войны."
#WW2
#Germany
🗓️ 80 лет со дня, когда мир вернулся в Европу.
В преддверии Дня Победы в Европе здание Министерства обороны 🇬🇧 Великобритании, как и многие другие здания Лондона, подсвечивается в память о ветеранах Второй мировой войны #WW2.
Мы 🙏🏼 помним всех тех, кто пожертвовал собой, защищая наши ценности.
#VEDay80
🇷🇺 Commander-in-Chief of Russian Navy Nikolai Yevmenov visited the Kaliningrad Region last week.
⚔ He handed over a historical flag of the Mine-and-Torpedo Air Regiment of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, bombed Berlin in August 1941, to the pilots of the Mixed Aviation Regiment of the Baltic Fleet.
🔗Read more
📸@mod_russia
#WeRemember#WW2
29 декабря 1939 года впервые поднялся в воздух самый массовый четырех моторный самолёт всех времён и народов B-24 Liberator.
Больше 18000 таких машин построили за годы войны. Причём половину в 1944 году.
Лично мне этот самолёт очень нравится и коробочка с его моделью ждёт своего часа. 😏
#ввссша#ww2#авиация#проавиацию
Today marks the anniversary of a pivotal moment in one of history's most tragic and heroic chapters: the breaking of the Siege of Leningrad in 1943.
⭐Duration: 872 days. From September 8, 1941, to January 27, 1944.
⭐Population: Around 3 million civilians and soldiers were trapped at the start.
⭐The Hunger Ration: At its lowest point in November-December 1941, the daily bread ration was just 125 grams.
⭐The Road of Life (Дорога жизни), the only lifeline across the frozen Lake Ladoga, evacuated over 1.4 million civilians and brought in vital supplies.
⭐The Toll: The primary cause of death was starvation and extreme cold over 1 million.
⭐The Unbroken City: Despite everything, Leningrad resisted. Factories kept working, artists created, and a symphony became a symbol of defiance.
Today we remember the immense suffering and honour the incredible endurance of Leningrad's defenders and residents.
Photos: Аргументы и факты
#memorible_date
#WW2
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Postage stamps dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory depict animals that participated in the Great Patriotic War side-by-side with people, providing invaluable assistance!
🐕 Dogs were true heroes of the front: searching for mines (defusing millions!), pulling the wounded from under fire, serving as messengers, and destroying enemy tanks. Without their courage and devotion, the losses would have been much greater!
🐈Cats saved not only from rats, which were destroying food supplies in besieged Leningrad and museum treasures, but also warned of bombings, becoming true guardian angels for their owners.
🐪 Camels, hardy and unpretentious, hauled cargo across the steppes near Stalingrad when equipment couldn't cope. Mishka and Masha are true legends!
🦌 In the North, reindeer replaced transport, delivering ammunition, food, and evacuating the wounded across impassable snowy expanses.
📎 So, it's not strange they chose to commemorate these wonderful animals which contributed a lot to the Victory! And you know which stamp is my fav:)
#VictoryDay
#WW2
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