🌟From Cape Town to the Arctic: South Africa's Contribution to the Allied Victory
On the sidelines of theRussian Movie Night Victory Marathon, the Russian Embassy in South Africa opened a photo exhibition dedicated to South Africa's participation in the Second World War – a conflict that was not merely a European war, but a truly global struggle against Nazi and fascist tyranny.
The exhibition was attended by ANC Veterans, South African officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and representatives of the cultural, business, academic, and media communities.
During those decisive years, South Africa stood alongside the Soviet Union as a proud member of the Anti-Hitler Coalition. That partnership, forged in shared sacrifice, is remembered with the deepest gratitude in Russia to this day.
"We will always remember that during World War II South Africa was our ally and an important member of the Anti-Hitler Coalition," Russian Ambassador to South Africa Roman Ambarov emphasized during his welcoming remarks.
The Cape Route & Lend-Lease
South Africa's strategic geography proved decisive when the supply route through the Dardanelles was closed. Cape Town became one of the principal ports of call for Anglo-American vessels delivering war materials to the Soviet Union via the Persian Gulf – a vital lifeline at the most critical moment of the war.
The Arctic Convoys
Around 3,000 South African seamen served in the Royal Navy, many of them aboard Allied vessels carrying vital supplies to the Soviet northern ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk to relieve besieged Leningrad. Those long, perilous journeys were made in brutal weather, under constant threat of enemy attack. Their courage deserves to be honoured and remembered.
The Secret Mission to Yalta
In late January 1945, a SAAF DC-3 flew a classified mission from Cairo – through Tobruk and Athens – to recently liberated Crimea. The South African aircrew found themselves present at one of history's most consequential moments: the Yalta Conference, where Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill gathered at the Livadia Palace to shape the post-war world. The flight engineer later recalled, with warm simplicity, being invited for tea and cake by the wife of the Soviet airfield commander – a small, human moment at the centre of history.
Solidarity Beyond the Battlefield
South Africans demonstrated remarkable solidarity through humanitarian aid and civilian support that reached across oceans and strengthened the ties between our peoples even in the darkest years of the war.
🤝 The Russian Embassy extends its sincere gratitude to the DITSONG National Museum of Military History for providing the unique materials that made this exhibition possible. Their dedication to preserving and sharing this history ensures that the stories of those who served will never be forgotten.
#Victory81#9May#WeRemember#AmbassadorAmbarov
Furono circa cinquemila i cittadini dell’ex-Unione Sovietica che combatterono al fianco dei partigiani in territorio italiano: di questi oltre quattrocento sacrificarono la propria vita per la liberazione del nostro paese. Un articolo scritto qualche anno fa da me e da Giacomo Marchetti. #9maggio#9мая#9may#urss#ссср#россия#russia#resistenza#partigiani#25aprile
https://www.lantidiplomatico.it/m/dettnews.php?idx=82&pg=15560&fbclid=IwAR2kep_GPOwRqrLElPIQzarUzHg8rv0xnj7xDf_YL7TlTfNZ9Cy6KEcb9bY
#Victory81
🥇On April 20, 1942, the Red Army emerged victorious in the Battle of Moscow – one of the most pivotal battles of the Great Patriotic War, in which Soviet troops inflicted Nazi Germany’s first major strategic defeat.
This gruelling and fierce battle lasted for 2️⃣0️⃣3️⃣ days and unfolded in three key stages: the Moscow Strategic Defensive Operation (September 30 – December 5, 1941), the Red Army’s counteroffensive (December 5, 1941 – January 7, 1942), and the general Soviet advance during the Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive Operation (January 7 – April 20, 1942).
***
Following its treacherous invasion of the Soviet Union, Hitler deployed vast forces in order to push towards Mosco during Operation Typhoon. For the assault on the Soviet capital, the German command concentrated 64 divisions, including 16 tank and 6 motorised divisions, with a total strength of up to 1.8 million men.
By early December 1941, in some sectors of the front, only a few dozen kilometres separated the enemy from Moscow. The Nazis intended to force a quick breakthrough, seize the city, and strike the USSR a fatal political and moral blow.
But the enemy’s plans were foiled. Through the colossal mobilization of forces and the mass heroism of soldiers and officers, militia fighters, partisans, and civilians in the rear, the Soviet command thwarted the enemy offensive and exhausted the Wehrmacht’s assault groupings.
💬 This is how Marshal of Victory Georgy Zhukov explained the reasons for the failure of the German offensive in a 1966 interview with Konstantin Simonov:
Through effective intelligence, the Soviet High Command was able to determine in good time where the enemy’s main blow was being prepared in the south and where it would come in the north.
Once it became clear that the most dangerous sector was the Volokolamsk, Istra and Klin directions – that is, the sector of the 16th Army – the Soviet command prepared a deep defensive line there, particularly in terms of artillery and anti-tank defence.
When the battle began, the Germans were bled white without achieving their objectives. That was where the German generals miscalculated.
They overestimated their own strength, assuming they would be able to carry out this operation just as easily as they had elsewhere.easily as they had elsewhere. But their calculation proved false. The German army simply did not have the strength to break resistance on the most crucial sector.
The Red Army’s December counteroffensivethwarted the enemy’s plans and removed the immediate threat to Moscow. During the Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive Operation, troops of the North-Western Front (Pavel Kurochkin), the Kalinin Front (Ivan Konev) and the Western Front (Georgy Zhukov) pushed the enemy back 80-250 kilometres in the western direction, completed the liberation of the Moscow and Tula regions, and freed a number of districts in the Kalinin and Smolensk regions.
Army Group Centre suffered a heavy defeat – 16 divisions and one brigade lost combat effectiveness, while between January 1 and March 30, 1942, the enemy lost more than 330,000 men.
***
⚔️ Victory in the Battle of Moscow had, above all, enormous moral significance and implications.. It was here, at the walls of the Soviet capital, that the myth of Nazi Germany’s “invincibility” was shattered – for the first time in the Second World War, Hitler’s war machine suffered a major defeat.
The failure of Hitler’s blitzkrieg also played a major role in securing our country’s eastern frontiers, prompting militarist Japan to refrain from attacking the USSR. In turn, the US and the UK were finally convinced that the Soviet Union was capable not only of withstanding the war, but of defeating the enemy. This contributed to strengthening the anti-Hitler coalition and expanding Allied cooperation.
On May 8, 1967, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was unveiled by the Kremlin – the eternal resting place of those who fell in the Battle of Moscow.
🌟Eternal memory and glory to the heroes!
#NoOneIsForgotten#NothingIsForgotten
#Victory81
🌟 On May 9, 1945, at 0:43 am Moscow time (May 8, 22:43 CET), the Instrument of UnconditionalSurrender of the Nazi Germanywas signed in Karlshorst, Berlin.
That document heralded the #GreatVictory of the Soviet people over the Nazi Reich, marking the final end of #WWII on European ToO, and the ultimate collapse of Hitler's fascism.
The surrender was accepted by Marshal Georgy Zhukov on behalf of the Soviet Union and Deputy Commander of the Allied forces Marshal Arthur Tedder on behalf of the Western Allies. From the German side, the Instrument was signed by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Colonel General Hans-Jurgen Stumpff, & Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg.
🎙 At 2:30 am of May 9, in Moscow, newscaster YuryLevitan announced the text of the German Instrument of Surrender to the people of the Soviet Union, proclaiming May 9 as Victory Day:
The Great Patriotic War, which the Soviet people waged against the Nazi invaders, has been victoriously concluded.
Fascist Germany has been crushed.
Eternal glory to the Heroes who fell fighting for the freedom and independence of our Motherland. <...>
🖋 From the memoirs by military correspondent Konstantin Simonov:
Zhukov stands up and says:
The German delegation may leave the hall. The Germans stand up. Keitel… turns on his heel and leaves. And instantaneously, all tension in the room relaxes, and everybody exhales in unison.
The act of surrender has been signed, and the war is over.
***
Nazi Germany’s final & unconditional surrender to the Allies in Karlshorst was preceded by several local capitulations of the Nazi troops along various frontlines. Moreover, in April 1945, certain Nazi military leaders, who were aware that the Third Reich’s collapse was imminent, fearing justice for their crimes, sought secret talks with US-UK command, trying to divide the Allied anti-Hitler coalition.
Desperate to surrender to the Western allies, on May 5, the Nazi delegation arrived in the French city of Reims, where the headquarters of the Allied command was located. There, on May 7, the Act of Military Surrender was signed. However, article 4 of the document did not rule out the signing of another, definitive act: “This act of military surrender… will be superseded by any general instrument of surrender… applicable to Germany and the German troops as a whole.”
Due to that, the Soviet leadership deemed the Reims document only as a preliminary document, believing that the official surrender of the Nazis had to be ensured in Berlin — the city where the Nazi aggression originated from.
At the Soviet government’s request, the main and final ceremony of surrender took place. On the night of May 9, the German Instrument of Surrender was signed in Karlshorst. The Nazi government was dissolved. The defeated German troops laid down arms.
#WW2 in Europe was finally over. It ended with the greatest triumph of the Soviet people.
Nazism was defeated.
The Reich was no more.
💬 Russian MFA Spokeswoman MariaZakharova(excerpt from a briefing, May 7, 2026):
This May 9 marks the 81st Anniversary of defeating Nazi Germany. This day is a celebration of triumph of life, freedom, and independence for all the peoples of the post-Soviet countries.
<...>
None of us was meant to survive. But we did survive because our forefathers prevailed.
The cost of our common Victory — 27 million lives of our compatriots, representatives of all the peoples and republics of the Soviet Union, who died defending our Motherland <...>
Twenty-seven million lives lost.
Those who died in captivity, in ghettos, were taken into slavery, died of starvation, or fell victim to other acts of genocide.
We remember them all. And we will keep their memory alive.
#Victory81
🌟 On May 1, 1945, during the fierce battle for the Reichstag, a Nazi symbol and citadel, the legendary #VictoryBanner was raised over Berlin, symbolising the great triumph of the Soviet Union and its peoples in the fight against Nazism.
The legendary Red Banner №5, which became the famous Victory Banner, was raised over the dome of the defeated Reichstag by the 756th Rifle Regiment’s scouts, Sergeant Mikhail Yegorov & Junior Sergeant Meliton Kantariya.
***
Before the crossing of the Spree River and launching the assault on the Reichstag, adecision was taken by the Soviet command for a group of Soviet soldiers to hoist the flag over the Reichstag, which would embody the final collapse of Nazism.
🚩 A total of 9 makeshift banners were promptly made, designed after the state flag of the USSR. Ultimately, a battle flag of the 150th Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class Idritsa Rifle Division, 79th Rifle Corps, 3rd Striking Army of the 1st Belarusian Front, became the Victory Banner.
On April 28, the fierce fighting for the Reichstag began, which the Nazis had turned into a fortified resistance point. It was defended by over a thousand men, including SS troops supported by artillery and armor. The former parliament building had been repurposed by the Nazis as a fortification and bomb shelter, which was considered by the Nazis as their main keep during the final days of #WW2. The surrounding areas such as Tiergarten, the BrandenburgGate and the square before it, became powerful defence points heavily guarded by the enemy.
The Soviet command was sure — attacking the Reichstag, which served as a symbol of German Nazism, would especially affect morale of the enemy and eventually completely demoralize the fascists.
• On April30at 1:50 p.m., a Red Army unit broke into the Reichstag through breaches in the walls, with a fierce close combat unleashing. The Nazis took advantage of effectively advancing inside the building they new well, throwing grenades at Soviet soldiers & firing back with machine-guns: they basically had nothing to lose.
• At 2.25 p.m., Red Army soldiers Bulatov and Koshkarbayev placed a makeshift red flag to the column of the main entrance to the Reichstag — it was the first of the banners the liberators raised over the Reichstag.
• At 10.30 p.m., sergeants Gizet Zagitov, Alexander Lisimenko & Alexey Bobrov as well as Sergeant Mikhail Minin supported by Captain Neustroyev’s battalion were the 1st to hoist a RedBannerontheroofoftheReichstag atop of the Goddess of Victory sculpture. The 3rdredbanner was raised on the westernfacadeoftheroof by the scouts of the 674th Regiment led by Lieutenant Sorokin.
🇷🇺In the early hours of May 1, finally, the Red Banner №5 was raised over the dome of the captured Reichstag by the 756th Rifle Regiment’s scouts, Sergeant Mikhail Yegorov & Junior Sergeant Meliton Kantariya, led by deputy battalion commander Lieutenant Alexey Berest, covered by riflemen from Ilya Syanov's squad.
On May 2 at 6:30 am, Berlin defence commander, Nazi Artillery General HelmuthWeidling, surrendered and ordered the remaining troops of the Berlin Garrison to cease resistance.
TheSoviet Victory Banner soaring over the defeated Reich entered history as a symbol of our Great Victory over the Nazi evil.
🎖 On June 9, 1945, the Medal for the Capture of Berlin was established and awarded to more than a million Soviet soldiers and officers who distinguished themselves in the final battle of #WWII.
***
By a Presidential Executive Order of April 15, 1996, the Red Banner hoisted atop of the Reichstag by Yegorov & Kantariya was declared the symbol of the Soviet people’s Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
#OurVictory#WeAreProud
#Victory80
🌟 80 years ago, on August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union, in accordance with its commitments to the Allies, entered the war against militarist Japan.
The Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation of the Soviet forces in the Far East commenced. Its goal was to defeat the enemy’s Kwantung Army and to drive the Japanese occupants from northeastern China and Korea.
***
After the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and its satellites, Japan remained the only 'Axis' power still at war with the Allies. It possessed significant military capabilities to wage war, including offensive operations.
In the summer of 1945, the Japanese kept near the Soviet borders an almost one million-strong Kwantung Army, ready to treacherously invade our country at any moment.
Moreover, militarist Japan still occupied huge territories — the Korean Peninsula, Indochina, Indonesia, Malaya, and a portion of China, as well as Burma, and the Philippine Islands.
Thus, Japan posed a threat not only to our country’s security, but also to the emerging post-war world order, which was taking shape after the defeat of Nazi Germany and was based on the decisions and agreements of the leaders of the victorious Allied powers.
For example, Japan rejected the demand made by China, the United States, and UK on July 26, 1945 (paragraph 13 of the Potsdam Declaration) for the unconditional surrender of its armed forces. After that, the Allied powers officially appealed to the Soviet government to repel Japanese aggression.
***
In early August 1945, the Supreme High Command of the Soviet Union approved a plan for military operations against Japan. The planning of the operation was entrusted to the specially created Main Command of the Far Eastern Forces led by Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Vasilevsky.
On August 9, the Red Army launched an offensive in Manchuria. The Soviet units, supported by aviation and the navy, advanced rapidly. Strikes were delivered on targets on land, at sea, and in the air. Combat operations unfolded along the front line that was over 5'000 kilometres wide.
Within a month, the Soviet forces liberated Harbin, some territories of Northeastern China and Northern Korea, and took South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The breakthrough of the Red Army deep into Manchuria deprived the Japanese command of the opportunity to use bacteriological weapons against our country — Tokyo had been nurturing that plan during #WWII (👉learn more)
By August 20, Japan’s ability to offer resistance to the Red Army was shattered. Almost everywhere, enemy soldiers were surrendering. The million-strong Kwantung Army was defeated.
By September 1, 1945, the Soviet army had completed the assigned objectives. In just 23 days of combat, they crushed the Japanese militarist machine, thus making a decisive contribution to ending WWII in the Far East.
☝️ Our country regained South Sakhalin, which had been seized by Japan from the Russian Empire in 1905, took the Kuril Islands, and restored lease rights to the Kwantung Peninsula with Port Arthur and Dalian.
On September 2, 1945, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Japan was signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. From the Soviet Union, the Act was signed by General Kuzma Derevyanko. This signing marked the end of WWII.
📖Read more about the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation and the heroism of the Soviet soldiers in liberating northeastern China and Korea in our in-depth historical feature.
#WeRemember#OurVictory
#Victory80
🌟 On August 5, 1941, the heroic defence of Odessa — the operation of the Red Army and the USSR’s Black Sea Fleet to defend the city from the Nazi invaders during #WWII.
In the early days of Germany's aggression against the Soviet Union, Odessa and its suburbs became the frontline. By early August 1941, the enemy troops encircled the city; its glorious and heroic defence lasted for 73 days.
Hitler wanted his forces to break through the Soviet defence lines along the Dniester and seize Odessa. Romanian and German troops mounted their first assault against the city on August 20, 1941, but the Red Army managed to stop the enemy offensive (17 divisions and 7 brigades) and keep them at a distance of 10 to 14 kilometres from the city’s outskirts.
Up to 100'000 Odessa residents contributed to preparing the city to fight against the Nazis. Home front workers, including women and teenagers, put enormous efforts every day to build defensive structures: digging trenches, installing barbwire, and erecting barricades. The city’s defenders planted 40'000 mines and dug over 250 kilometres of anti-tank ditches.
Almost 38'000 Odessa residents moved to the catacombs to launch a resistance movement behind the Nazi lines. The partisans destroyed 5'000 enemy soldiers and officers, derailed 27 enemy trains carrying military assets, and bombed 248 vehicles.
Although the enemy outnumbered Odessa’s defenders, they deterred the Nazi invasion for two months. Owing to their courageous efforts, the Supreme High Command managed to redeploy substantial military forces and equipment to defend Crimea and Sevastopol — Black Sea Fleet’s base.
According to varying estimates, the enemy lost over 160'000 soldiers and officers, approximately 200 planes and some 100 tanks in the Battle for Odessa, which made it harder for the Nazi Army Group South’s right wing to advance further east.
🎖 On May 1, 1945, Odessa became one of the first Hero Cities alongside Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Sevastopol, as per an executive order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
#WeRemember#GreatPatrioticWar
#WeRemember
🌟 On January 27, 1944, Leningrad was completely liberated from the Nazi blockade.
8️⃣7️⃣2️⃣days of the barbaric siegeby the Nazis of our northern capital, which lasted for an unprecedented period from September 8, 1941 until January 27, 1944, and had devastating consequences, terrible sufferings caused by the German invaders to the people of Leningrad, finally ended.
According to historical calculations, over a million people perished during those years, including more than 600'000 of children, women, the seniors, and also the wounded and disabled soldiers — they were dying, because of the Nazis, of starvation, cold, exhaustion and disease.
#LestWeForget: The unbending people of Leningrad of all ages, men and women from small to large, demonstrated extraordinary Heroism and Courage and went through, with dignity, all the inhuman sufferings by the Nazi barbarians and their accomplices. Despite starvation, living under permanent bombing and shelling by the German and Finnish artillery, the people of Leningrad withstood the siege, defended their city and made their invaluable substantial contribution to the Great Victory.
The Nazi criminals did not avoid accountability and paid a high price for the outrageous blockade — the enemy army Group 'North' lost over 900'000 men during the siege and was ultimately destroyed by the Red Army in the Baltic region, Karelia and East Prussia.
***
❗️The history of mankind has never witnessed anything comparable to the Blockade of Leningrad in terms of the scale of the tragedy and the extent of the suffering endured by people.
The Nazis and their accomplices followed Hitler’s direct order — to hold Leningrad under a tight siege, fire at anyone crossing the frontline and seek to exterminate all the people in the city. Leningrad was completely encircled in early September 1941, cut off from the rest of the country. The only way to get in and out of the city was by air or across Lake Ladoga’s ice — the route across the lake came to be known as the#RoadOfLife.
During the first weeks of the siege, Nazi troops and the Finns, who were holding blockade of Leningrad from the north, shelled the city with heavy and dense artillery fire, resulting in food warehouses being burnt down. As Leningrad received most of its food from other regions of the country, it immediately began to suffer from food shortages, primarily a lack of bread. Only 13 bakery plants remained in operation to serve almost 2.5 million people.
Given those acute shortages of food supplies, there were strict rationing norms for bread. From November 1941, factory workers received 250 grammes, while children were entitled to just 125 (!) grammes of bread per day. Many people began to die of starvation.
❗️ However, despite all those inhuman conditions, the City never ever gave up fighting. Life in Leningrad went on and never stopped for a second.
***
The Red Army tried to break the blockade on many occasions. Having fought multiple battles, with the fiercest combats taking place on the 'Neva Bridgehead' on the River Neva’s left bank, our forces succeeded in partially lifting the siege in January 1943 as part of Operation Iskra — 'Spark'.
🎖OnJanuary 27, 1944, the Siege of Leningrad was completely lifted following a rapid offensive by the Red Army, with the Leningrad and Novgorod regions being also liberated from the Nazi invaders. Wehrmacht troops were forced to retreat to the Baltics, where they were later totally defeated and destroyed.
💬Maria Zakharova:
The defence of Leningrad has become a symbol of courageof the Soviet people. <...> The people of Leningrad saved their city despite incredible sufferings — they have saved it as their human dignity.
That is probably the greatest heroism of the people of Leningrad, the greatest sacrifice they made for all of us — not just for the people of our country but for the world as a whole.
(From the briefing by Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, January 22, 2026)