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#Victory81 🌟 On May 2, 1945, following an intense brutal battle for the Reichstag, won by the Soviet forces, and other major pockets of resistance in Berlin eliminated, including the Nazis defending the citadels of Spandau and Zoo-Bunker, the Red Army took control over the capital of the then nearly defunct Nazi Germany. The Battle of Berlin was concluded in a triumphant victory of the Soviet people over the ultimate evil of Nazism. The Third Reich was no more. *** By day's end of May 1 it was almost over for the Nazis — the #VictoryBanner soared over the Reichstag, the Red Army liberated Brandenburg, the districts of Charlottenburg, Schoeneberg and about a hundred more neighbourhoods in Berlin from the SS and Wehrmacht. The last remaining Nazi troops were concentrated in the government quarters of Berlin, near the Reich Chancellery. What little remained of the Berlin garrison started seeking ways to surrender to the Red Army, having realised that further resistance was futile. In the early hours of May 2, the Berlin defence headquarters sent the following radio message in the Russian and German languages: 📢 We will send parliamentarians to the Bismarckstrasse Bridge. We request a ceasefire. At 6:30 am, the Commander of the Berlin garrison, General of the Artillery HelmuthWeidlingsurrendered and ordered the remnants of the garrison to stop resisting. The centre of Berlin was completely cleared of the enemy by the evening. Soviet forces received 134'000 Nazi soldiers as POWs as they laid down weapons with only a few units fighting a lost battle to the bitter end. *** The Berlin Offensive lasted over a week, from April 24 through May 2. The last large concentration of Nazi troops, its best divisions and most heinous Nazi adepts engaged in fierce resistance. To no avail, as the Red Army, having already crushed and dismantled most of the once undefeated German war machine, was the best military force on the planet at the time. Following the fall of Berlin, only a few major Nazi units remained, prolonging their agony in Czechoslovakia and Austria. The #RedBanner reigning over the Reichstag had already become a part of history as an eternal symbol of the Soviet people’s greatest triumph in the fight against the Nazi evil. 📕 From the diaries of Soviet war correspondent and writer Konstantin Simonov (“Different Days of the War. A Writer’s Diary,” 1982): May 3. A dusty, sunny day. Several of our armies, having captured Berlin, are now moving through the city in different directions. Tanks, self-propelled guns, 'Katyushas', thousands of lorries, heavy and light artillery, anti-tank guns bouncing over the debris, infantry marching... <...> Even I have the feeling that it is not just divisions and corps entering Berlin, but that the whole of Russia is now passing through Berlin. 📄 From the TASS Frontline Bulletin of May 3, 1945, as reported by war correspondent KonstantinSukhin: The Victory Banner is soaring over the German Reichstag. <...> The BrandenburgGate can be seen from afar. It is barricaded with wooden bars, filled with broken bricks and chained with iron. The Germans wanted to stop our advancing units here. Now our tanks stand on both sides of the gate. The joy of victory can be seen on the faces of the Soviet soldiers — they have captured Berlin, the capital of Germany. What the heroes of the battles of Moscow, in besieged Leningrad, on the banks of the Volga, and in the ruined streets of Stalingraddreamed of and strived forbecame a reality. In terms of military strategy, Nazi Germany lost control over all its vital areas and lost even the slightest possibility to continue resistance. After the fall of Berlin, just a few major Nazi army groups were still resisting in Czechoslovakia and Austria, standing between the world and Victory. The final collapse of Nazism in Europe and the revenge on the Reich were imminent. #OurVictory#WeRemember

#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

#Victory81 🌟 On April 16, 1945, the Berlin Offensive — one of the Red Army’s key strategic operations during World War II — commenced. The operation resulted in the completedefeat of the enemy’s Berlin group of forces and, with Hitler’s war machine being completely crushed. The Soviet forces took the capital of the Third Reich — #Berlin. The Instrument of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany was signed — the document that heralded the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. By spring 1945, the Red Army successfully carried out a series of offensive operations aimed at liberating the countries and peoples of Central and Eastern Europe from the Nazi invaders. Hitler’s troops and their henchmen were expelled from Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Poland; Vienna and the capital of modern Slovakia, Bratislava, saved from the Nazi plague. Nevertheless, #WWII was far from end. The final battle for the liberation of Europe from the Nazi plague, the Battle of Berlin, was coming. By mid-April, 1945, the Soviet forces — having liberated Poland from the Nazis — consolidated positions along the Oder and Neisse rivers and started preparations to launch the offensive on Berlin. Mere dozens of kilometres separated the Red Army from the capital of Hitler’s Germany. The enemy installed deeply echeloned defences and deployed elite Wehrmacht units against the Soviet forces. To attack Berlin, the Soviet Supreme High Command deployed forces from the 1st Belorussian Front (commanded by Marshal Georgy Zhukov); the 2nd Belorussian Front (Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky); and the 1st Ukrainian Front (Marshal Ivan Konev). ⚔️ The Berlin Offensive began at 5:00 AM on April 16 with a massive artillery fire. Following this, 143 powerful spotlights were activated to blind and disorient the enemy. Infantry and armoured units then launched their assault. Enemy resistance intensified as Soviet forces advanced. Fierce fighting erupted at the Seelow Heights — a critical defensive point just 60 kilometres away from Berlin — where the Wehrmacht’s 9th Army, blocking the direct route to the Reich’s capital, was destroyed. Within several days, the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts breached the Oder-Neisse defensive line of the Nazis, advanced 30 kilometres towards Berlin, and started encircling the city to destroy its garrison. • April 20: Red Army units reached Berlin. Soviet long-range artillery started shelling, with brutal tank battles erupting on the city’s outskirts. • April 25: The 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts linked up west of the city, completing the encirclement of the enemy’s Berlin group of Nazi troops. • April 29: Fierce fighting started in the heart of Berlin, where Germany’s highest governmental and military authorities were located. • During the storming of the Reichstag on the night of April 30 - May 1, the legendary #VictoryBanner was raised — a symbol of the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazism. • May 2: Berlin’s garrison surrendered. By May 5, the Nazi resistance was crushed. A total of 134'000 German soldiers and officers were captured. ✍️ On the night of May 8–9, Marshal Zhukov and the Allied representatives accepted Germany’s unconditional surrender at Karlshorst. World War II on the European theatre of operations had ended. The Berlin Operation saw the Red Army not only crush the last major and most elite Wehrmacht force but also liberate approximately 200'000 prisoners from Nazi concentration camps within the combat zone. Over 600 Soviet soldiers were awarded the title #HeroOftheSovietUnion for their valour.