Iasi Chisinau operation number of prisoners. Iasi-Kishinev operation

By August 1944, a favorable situation had developed for Soviet troops in the Balkan direction to deliver a decisive blow. German command in the summer of 1944 it was transferred from this direction to Belarus and Western Ukraine 12 divisions, thereby weakening Army Group Southern Ukraine. Despite this, the German-Romanian command created a powerful, deeply layered defense here, consisting of 3-4 defensive lines linked to water obstacles and hilly terrain. Strong defensive lines encircled many cities and other settlements in Moldova and eastern Romania.
By this time, the political situation in Romania had become sharply complicated. On August 4, 1944, Romanian conductor Ion Victor Antonescu met with German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler. At this meeting, Hitler assured his Romanian ally that the Wehrmacht would defend Romania as well as Germany. But, in turn, he demanded assurances from Antonescu that, no matter what the circumstances, Romania would remain an ally of the Reich and would take upon itself the maintenance of German troops operating on Romanian territory. However, in Romania itself, dissatisfaction with the Antonescu regime was growing. Many no longer believed in the successful development of events on the fronts for the Axis countries and feared the threat of the occupation of Romania by Soviet troops.
The Soviet command believed that Romanian troops, which were mainly located on the flanks, were less combat-ready than the German ones. Therefore, it was decided to deliver the main attack on the flanks in two areas far apart from each other. The 2nd Ukrainian Front struck north-west of Yassy, the 3rd Ukrainian Front - south of Bendery (Suvorovskaya Mountain). At the same time, it was necessary to convince the enemy that the main blow was supposed to be delivered in the tactically more advantageous Chisinau direction. For this purpose, special operational camouflage measures were developed and implemented. Developing an offensive along directions converging towards the Hushi - Vaslui - Falciu area, the fronts were supposed to encircle and destroy the main forces of the Southern Ukraine Army Group, and then quickly advance deep into Romania. The Black Sea Fleet was to provide fire support to the coastal flank of the Third Ukrainian Front, disrupt the coastal sea communications of Germany and Romania, destroy enemy ships and launch massive air strikes on the naval bases of Constanta and Sulina.
The Iasi-Kishinev operation began early in the morning of August 20, 1944 with a powerful artillery offensive, the first part of which consisted of suppressing enemy defenses before attacking infantry and tanks, and the second part of artillery support of the attack. At 7:40 a.m., Soviet troops, accompanied by a double barrage of fire, went on the offensive from the Kitskansky bridgehead and from the area west of Iasi.
The artillery strike was so strong that the first line of German defense was completely destroyed.

The offensive was supported by attack aircraft strikes on the strongest strongholds and enemy artillery firing positions. The strike groups of the Second Ukrainian Front broke through the main line, and the 27th Army, by mid-day, broke through the second line of defense.
In the offensive zone of the 27th Army, the 6th Army was introduced into the breakthrough tank army, and in the ranks of the German-Romanian troops, as admitted by the commander of Army Group Southern Ukraine, General Hans Friesner, “incredible chaos began.” The German command, trying to stop the advance of Soviet troops in the Iasi area, launched three infantry and one tank division. But this did not change the situation. On the second day of the offensive, the strike group of the 2nd Ukrainian Front waged a stubborn struggle for the third line on the Mare ridge, and the 7th guards army and a cavalry-mechanized group - for Tirgu-Frumos. By the end of August 21, the front troops had expanded the breakthrough to 65 km along the front and to 40 km in depth and, having overcome all three defensive lines, captured the cities of Iasi and Tirgu-Frumos, thereby taking two powerful fortified areas in a minimum period of time. The 3rd Ukrainian Front successfully advanced in the southern sector, at the junction of the 6th German and 3rd Romanian armies.
By the end of the second day of the operation, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front isolated the 6th German Army from the 3rd Romanian Army, closing the encirclement ring of the 6th German army near the village of Leusheni. Its commander fled, abandoning his troops. Aviation actively assisted the fronts. In two days, Soviet pilots flew about 6,350 sorties. Aviation Black Sea Fleet attacked Romanian and German ships and bases in Constanta and Sulina. German and Romanian troops suffered big losses in manpower and military equipment, especially on the main line of defense, and began to hastily retreat. In the first two days of the operation, 7 Romanian and 2 German divisions were completely defeated.
The commander of the army group "Southern Ukraine" Friesner, having analyzed the situation in detail after the first day of the offensive of the Soviet troops, realized that the battle was not in favor of the army group and decided to withdraw the troops of the army group beyond the Prut and, despite the absence of Hitler's order, brought his order to troops on August 21. The next day, August 22, he gave permission to the army group and the General Staff to withdraw troops, but it was too late. By that time, the strike groups of the Soviet fronts had already intercepted the main escape routes to the west. The German command overlooked the possibility of encircling its troops in the Chisinau region. On the night of August 22, sailors of the Danube Military Flotilla, together with the landing group of the 46th Army, successfully crossed the 11-kilometer Dniester estuary, liberated the city of Akkerman and began to develop an offensive in the southwestern direction.
On August 23, the Soviet fronts fought in order to close the encirclement and continue advancing on the external front. 18th tank corps on the same day, the 7th Mechanized Corps went to the crossings of the Prut in the Leushen area, and the 4th Guards Mechanized Corps went to Leovo. The 46th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front pushed the troops of the 3rd Romanian Army to the Black Sea, and it ceased resistance on August 24. On the same day, ships of the Danube military flotilla landed troops in Zhebriyany - Vilkovo. Also on August 24, the 5th Shock Army under the command of General N. E. Berzarin occupied Chisinau.
The first stage was completed on August 24 strategic operation two fronts - a breakthrough of the defense and the encirclement of the Iasi-Kishinev group of German-Romanian troops. By the end of the day, Soviet troops had advanced 130–140 km. 18 divisions were surrounded. On August 24-26, the Red Army entered Leovo, Cahul, and Kotovsk. By August 26, the entire territory of Moldova was occupied by Soviet troops.

The lightning-fast and crushing defeat of the German-Romanian troops near Iasi and Chisinau aggravated the internal political situation in Romania to the limit. The regime of Ion Antonescu has lost all support in the country. Many senior government and military figures in Romania established contacts with opposition parties, anti-fascists, and communists at the end of July and began to discuss preparations for the uprising. Fast development Events at the front were accelerated by the onset of an anti-government uprising that broke out on August 23 in Bucharest. The young Romanian King Mihai I took the side of the rebels and ordered the arrest of Antonescu and the pro-Nazi generals. A new government of Constantin Sănatescu was formed with the participation of National Tsaranists, National Liberals, Social Democrats and Communists. The new government announced Romania's withdrawal from the war on the side of Germany, acceptance of the peace terms offered by the Allies, and demanded that German troops leave the country as soon as possible. The German command refused to comply with this demand and attempted to suppress the uprising. On the morning of August 24, German aircraft bombed Bucharest, and in the afternoon German troops went on the offensive. The new Romanian government declared war on Germany and asked Soviet Union help.
The Soviet command sent 50 divisions and the main forces of both air armies deep into Romania to help the uprising, and 34 divisions were left to eliminate the encircled group. By the end of August 27, the group surrounded east of the Prut ceased to exist.
By August 28, that part of the German troops that managed to cross to west bank Prut with the intention of breaking through to the Carpathian passes.
The offensive of Soviet troops on the external front grew increasingly stronger. The troops of the Second Ukrainian Front developed success towards Northern Transylvania and in the Focsani direction; on August 27 they occupied Focsani and reached the approaches to Ploesti and Bucharest. Formations of the 46th Army of the Third Ukrainian Front, advancing south along both banks of the Danube, cut off the retreat routes of the defeated German troops to Bucharest. Black Sea Fleet and Danube military flotilla assisted the offensive of troops, landed troops, and carried out attacks with naval aviation. On August 28, the cities of Braila and Sulina were taken, and on August 29, the port of Constanta. On this day, the liquidation of the encircled enemy troops was completed. west of the river Rod. This completed the Iasi-Chisinau operation.

,
16 thousand guns and mortars,
1870 tanks and self-propelled guns,
2200 aircraft.

900 thousand people,
7600 guns and mortars,
400 tanks and assault guns,
810 aircraft. Losses

"Ten Stalinist Strikes" (1944)
1. Leningrad-Novgorod 2. Dnieper-Carpathians 3. Crimea 4. Vyborg-Petrozavodsk 5. Belarus 6. Lviv-Sandomir 7. Iasi-Chisinau 8. Baltics 9. Eastern Carpathians 10. Petsamo-Kirkenes

Iasi-Kishinev operation, also known as Iasi-Chisinau Cannes(- August 29, 1944) - strategic military operation The armed forces of the USSR against Nazi Germany and Romania during the Great Patriotic War, with the goal of defeating a large German-Romanian group covering the Balkan direction, liberating Moldova and withdrawing Romania from the war. Considered one of the most successful Soviet operations during the Great Patriotic War Patriotic War, is one of the “ten Stalinist blows”. It ended with the victory of the Red Army troops, the liberation of the Moldavian SSR and the complete defeat of the enemy.

Conditions before surgery

Balance of power

USSR

2nd Ukrainian Front (commander R. Ya. Malinovsky). It included the 27th Army, 40th Army, 52nd Army, 53rd Army, 4th Guards Army, 7th Guards Army, 6th Tank Army, 18th Separate Tank Corps and Cavalry mechanized group. Air support for the front was provided by the 5th Air Army.
3rd Ukrainian Front (commander F.I. Tolbukhin). It included the 37th Army, 46th Army, 57th Army, 5th Shock Army, 7th Mechanized Corps, 4th Guards Mechanized Corps. Aviation support for the front was provided by the 17th Air Army, which included 2,200 aircraft.
Black Sea Fleet (commanded by F. S. Oktyabrsky), which also included the Danube Military Flotilla. The fleet consisted of 1 battleship, 4 cruisers, 6 destroyers, 30 submarines and 440 ships of other classes. The Black Sea Fleet Air Force consisted of 691 aircraft.

Germany and Romania

Army Group “Southern Ukraine” (commander G. Friesner). It included the 6th German Army, the 8th German Army, the 3rd Romanian Army, the 4th Romanian Army and the 17th German Army Corps - a total of 25 German, 22 Romanian divisions and 5 Romanian brigades. Aviation support for the troops was provided by the 4th Air Fleet, which included 810 German and Romanian aircraft.

The artillery strike was so strong that the first line of German defense was completely destroyed. This is how one of the participants in those battles describes the state of the German defense in his memoirs:

The offensive was supported by attack aircraft strikes on the strongest strongholds and enemy artillery firing positions. Shock groups of the Second Ukrainian Front broke through the main, and the 27th Army, by mid-day, broke through the second line of defense.

In the offensive zone of the 27th Army, the 6th Tank Army was introduced into the breakthrough, and in the ranks of the German-Romanian troops, as admitted by the commander of Army Group Southern Ukraine, General Hans Friessner, “incredible chaos began.” The German command, trying to stop the advance of Soviet troops in the Iasi area, launched three infantry and one tank divisions into counterattacks. But this did not change the situation. On the second day of the offensive, the strike force of the 2nd Ukrainian Front fought hard for the third lane on the Mare ridge, while the 7th Guards Army and the cavalry-mechanized group fought for Tirgu-Frumos. By the end of August 21, the front troops had expanded the breakthrough to 65 km along the front and to 40 km in depth and, having overcome all three defensive lines, captured the cities of Iasi and Tirgu-Frumos, thereby taking two powerful fortified areas in a minimum period of time. The 3rd Ukrainian Front successfully advanced in the southern sector, at the junction of the 6th German and 3rd Romanian armies.

On August 20, during the breakthrough, Sergeant Alexander Shevchenko distinguished himself in battles in the Tirgu-Frumos area. The advance of his company was in jeopardy due to enemy fire coming from the bunker. Attempts to suppress the bunker with artillery fire from indirect firing positions were unsuccessful. Then Shevchenko rushed to the embrasure and covered it with his body, opening the way for the assault group. For the accomplished feat, Shevchenko was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In the battles for the liberation of Moldova, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to more than 140 soldiers and commanders. Six Soviet soldiers became full holders of the Order of Glory: G. Alekseenko, A. Vinogradov, A. Gorskin, F. Dineev, N. Karasev and S. Skiba.

Coup d'etat in Romania. Defeat of the surrounded group

The offensive of Soviet troops on the external front grew increasingly stronger. The troops of the Second Ukrainian Front developed success towards Northern Transylvania and in the Focsani direction; on August 27 they occupied Focsani and reached the approaches to Ploesti and Bucharest. Units of the 46th Army of the Third Ukrainian Front, advancing south along both banks of the Danube, cut off the route of retreat for the defeated German troops to Bucharest. The Black Sea Fleet and the Danube Military Flotilla facilitated the offensive of troops, landed troops, and carried out strikes with naval aviation. On August 28, the cities of Braila and Sulina were taken, and on August 29, the amphibious assault of the Black Sea Fleet occupied the port and the main Romanian naval base of Constanta. On this day, the liquidation of the encircled enemy troops west of the Prut River was completed. This completed the Iasi-Chisinau operation.

The meaning and consequences of the operation

The Iasi-Kishinev operation had a great influence on further move wars in the Balkans. During it, the main forces of Army Group “Southern Ukraine” were defeated, Romania was withdrawn from the war, and the Moldavian SSR and the Izmail region of the Ukrainian SSR were liberated. Although by the end of August most of Romania was still in the hands of the Germans and pro-Nazi Romanian forces, they were no longer able to organize powerful defensive lines in the country. On August 31, troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front entered Bucharest, which was occupied by Romanian rebels. The fighting for Romania continued until the end of October 1944 (see Romanian operation). On September 12, 1944, in Moscow, the Soviet government, on behalf of its allies - the USSR, Great Britain and the USA - signed an armistice agreement with Romania.

Restoration of Moldova

Immediately after the completion of the Iasi-Kishinev operation, the post-war restoration of the economy of Moldova began, for which 448 million rubles were allocated from the USSR budget in 1944-45. The socialist transformations that began in 1940 and were interrupted by the Romanian invasion also continued. By September 19, 1944, units of the Red Army with the help of the population had restored railway connection and bridges across the Dniester, blown up by retreating German-Romanian troops. Industry was rebuilt. In 1944-45, equipment from 22 large enterprises arrived in Moldova. 226 collective farms in the left-bank regions and 60 state farms were restored. The peasantry received, mainly from Russia, seed loans, cattle, horses, etc. However, the consequences of the war and drought, while maintaining the system of compulsory state grain procurements, led to mass famine and a sharp increase in mortality.

The most significant assistance Moldova provided to the Red Army was the replenishment of its ranks with volunteers. After the successful completion of the Iasi-Chisinau operation, 256.8 thousand residents of the republic went to the front. The work of Moldovan enterprises for the needs of the army was also important.

Memory

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Notes

Krivosheev G.F.. - Moscow: Olma-Press, 2001.
.
Novokhatsky I. M. Memoirs of a battery commander. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2007. - ISBN 978-5-9524-2870-6.
Iasi-Kishinev operation- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
History of the Republic of Moldova. From ancient times to the present day. - 2002. - P. 240.
Moldova celebrated the 68th anniversary of the country's liberation -
Participants of the historical round table appealed to the Chisinau municipal council with a request to return the name -

Sources

History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union. 1941-1945 - M., 1962. - T. 4.
History of the Republic of Moldova. From ancient times to the present day = Istoria Republicii Moldova: din cele mai vechi timpuri pină în zilele noastre / Association of Scientists of Moldova named after. N. Milescu-Spataru. - ed. 2nd, revised and expanded. - Chisinau: Elan Poligraf, 2002. - P. 239-242. - 360 s. - ISBN 9975-9719-5-4.
Stati V. History of Moldova.. - Chisinau: Tipografia Centrală, 2002. - P. 372-374. - 480 s. - ISBN 9975-9504-1-8.
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. - Chisinau: Main editorial office of Moldavian Soviet Encyclopedia, 1979. - pp. 142-145.
Kishinev. Encyclopedia. - Chisinau: Main editorial office of the Moldavian Soviet Encyclopedia, 1984. - P. 547-548.
Frisner G.. - M.: Military Publishing House, 1966.

Links

Background

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1940



European theater of operations

African theater of operations

1941



European theater of operations

1942

European theater of operations

African theater of operations

Southeast Asia

1943

European theater of operations

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Asian theater

Consequences,
diplomacy

An excerpt characterizing the Iasi-Chisinau operation

Princess Marya entered her father and went to the bed. He lay high on his back, with his small, bony hands covered with lilac knotty veins on the blanket, with his left eye staring straight and his right eye squinted, with motionless eyebrows and lips. He was all so thin, small and pitiful. His face seemed to have shriveled or melted, his features shriveled up. Princess Marya came up and kissed his hand. His left hand squeezed her hand so that it was clear that he had been waiting for her for a long time. He shook her hand, and his eyebrows and lips moved angrily.
She looked at him in fear, trying to guess what he wanted from her. When she changed her position and moved so that her left eye could see her face, he calmed down, not taking his eyes off her for a few seconds. Then his lips and tongue moved, sounds were heard, and he began to speak, timidly and pleadingly looking at her, apparently afraid that she would not understand him.
Princess Marya, straining all her attention, looked at him. The comic labor with which he moved his tongue forced Princess Marya to lower her eyes and with difficulty suppress the sobs rising in her throat. He said something, repeating his words several times. Princess Marya could not understand them; but she tried to guess what he was saying and repeated the questioning words he said to the elephant.
“Gaga – fights... fights...” he repeated several times. There was no way to understand these words. The doctor thought that he had guessed right, and, repeating his words, asked: is the princess afraid? He shook his head negatively and repeated the same thing again...
“My soul, my soul hurts,” Princess Marya guessed and said. He hummed affirmatively, took her hand and began to press it to various places on his chest, as if searching for the real place for her.
- All thoughts! about you... thoughts,” he then said much better and more clearly than before, now that he was sure that he was understood. Princess Marya pressed her head against his hand, trying to hide her sobs and tears.
He moved his hand through her hair.
“I called you all night...” he said.
“If only I knew...” she said through tears. – I was afraid to enter.
He shook her hand.
– Didn’t you sleep?
“No, I didn’t sleep,” said Princess Marya, shaking her head negatively. Unwittingly obeying her father, she now, just as he spoke, tried to speak more with signs and seemed to also be moving her tongue with difficulty.
- Darling... - or - friend... - Princess Marya could not make out; but, probably, from the expression of his gaze, a gentle, caressing word was said, which he never said. - Why didn’t you come?
“And I wished, wished for his death! - thought Princess Marya. He paused.
“Thank you... daughter, friend... for everything, for everything... forgive... thank you... forgive... thank you!..” And tears flowed from his eyes. “Call Andryusha,” he suddenly said, and something childishly timid and distrustful was expressed in his face at this demand. It was as if he himself knew that his demand made no sense. So, at least, it seemed to Princess Marya.
“I received a letter from him,” answered Princess Marya.
He looked at her with surprise and timidity.
- Where is he?
- He is in the army, mon pere, in Smolensk.
He was silent for a long time, closing his eyes; then in the affirmative, as if in response to his doubts and to confirm that he now understood and remembered everything, he nodded his head and opened his eyes.
“Yes,” he said clearly and quietly. - Russia is dead! Ruined! - And he began to sob again, and tears flowed from his eyes. Princess Marya could no longer hold on and cried too, looking at his face.
He closed his eyes again. His sobs stopped. He made a sign with his hand to his eyes; and Tikhon, understanding him, wiped away his tears.
Then he opened his eyes and said something that no one could understand for a long time, and finally only Tikhon understood and conveyed it. Princess Marya looked for the meaning of his words in the mood in which he spoke a minute before. She thought that he was talking about Russia, then about Prince Andrei, then about her, about his grandson, then about his death. And because of this she could not guess his words.
“Put on your white dress, I love it,” he said.
Realizing these words, Princess Marya began to sob even louder, and the doctor, taking her by the arm, led her out of the room onto the terrace, persuading her to calm down and make preparations for departure. After Princess Marya left the prince, he again started talking about his son, about the war, about the sovereign, twitched his eyebrows angrily, began to raise a hoarse voice, and the second and final blow came to him.
Princess Marya stopped on the terrace. The day had cleared up, it was sunny and hot. She could not understand anything, think about anything and feel anything except her passionate love for her father, a love that, it seemed to her, she did not know until that moment. She ran out into the garden and, sobbing, ran down to the pond along the young linden paths planted by Prince Andrei.
- Yes... I... I... I. I wanted him dead. Yes, I wanted it to end soon... I wanted to calm down... But what will happen to me? “What do I need peace of mind when he’s gone,” Princess Marya muttered aloud, walking quickly through the garden and pressing her hands on her chest, from which sobs were convulsively escaping. Walking around the garden in a circle that led her back to the house, she saw M lle Bourienne (who remained in Bogucharovo and did not want to leave) and an unfamiliar man coming towards her. This was the leader of the district, who himself came to the princess in order to present to her the necessity of an early departure. Princess Marya listened and did not understand him; she led him into the house, invited him to have breakfast and sat down with him. Then, apologizing to the leader, she went to the door of the old prince. The doctor with an alarmed face came out to her and said that it was impossible.
- Go, princess, go, go!
Princess Marya went back into the garden and sat down on the grass under the mountain near the pond, in a place where no one could see. She didn't know how long she was there. Someone's running female steps along the path made her wake up. She got up and saw that Dunyasha, her maid, who was obviously running after her, suddenly, as if frightened by the sight of her young lady, stopped.
“Please, Princess... Prince...” Dunyasha said in a broken voice.
“Now, I’m coming, I’m coming,” the princess spoke hastily, not giving Dunyasha time to finish what she had to say, and, trying not to see Dunyasha, she ran to the house.
“Princess, God’s will is being done, you must be ready for anything,” said the leader, meeting her at the front door.
- Leave me. It is not true! – she angrily shouted at him. The doctor wanted to stop her. She pushed him away and ran to the door. “Why are these people with frightened faces stopping me? I don't need anyone! And what are they doing here? “She opened the door, and the bright daylight in this previously dim room terrified her. There were women and a nanny in the room. They all moved away from the bed to give her way. He was still lying on the bed; but the stern look of his calm face stopped Princess Marya at the threshold of the room.
“No, he’s not dead, that can’t be! - Princess Marya said to herself, walked up to him and, overcoming the horror that gripped her, pressed her lips to his cheek. But she immediately pulled away from him. Instantly, all the strength of tenderness for him that she felt in herself disappeared and was replaced by a feeling of horror at what was in front of her. “No, he is no more! He is not there, but there is right there, in the same place where he was, something alien and hostile, some terrible, terrifying and repulsive secret... - And, covering her face with her hands, Princess Marya fell into the arms of the doctor who supported her.
In the presence of Tikhon and the doctor, the women washed what he was, tied a scarf around his head so that his open mouth would not stiffen, and tied his diverging legs with another scarf. Then they dressed him in a uniform with orders and placed the small, shriveled body on the table. God knows who took care of it and when, but everything happened as if by itself. By nightfall, candles were burning around the coffin, there was a shroud on the coffin, juniper was strewn on the floor, a printed prayer was placed under the dead, shriveled head, and a sexton sat in the corner, reading the psalter.
Just as horses shy away, crowd and snort over a dead horse, so in the living room around the coffin a crowd of foreign and native people crowded - the leader, and the headman, and the women, and all with fixed, frightened eyes, crossed themselves and bowed, and kissed the cold and numb hand of the old prince.

Bogucharovo was always, before Prince Andrei settled there, an estate behind the eyes, and the Bogucharovo men had a completely different character from the Lysogorsk men. They differed from them in their speech, clothing, and morals. They were called steppe. The old prince praised them for their tolerance at work when they came to help with cleaning in the Bald Mountains or digging ponds and ditches, but did not like them for their savagery.
Prince Andrei's last stay in Bogucharovo, with its innovations - hospitals, schools and ease of rent - did not soften their morals, but, on the contrary, strengthened in them those character traits that the old prince called savagery. There were always some vague rumors going around between them, either about the enumeration of all of them as Cossacks, then about the new faith to which they would be converted, then about some royal sheets, then about the oath to Pavel Petrovich in 1797 (about which they said that back then the will came out, but the gentlemen took it away), then about Peter Feodorovich, who will reign in seven years, under whom everything will be free and it will be so simple that nothing will happen. Rumors about the war in Bonaparte and his invasion were combined for them with the same unclear ideas about the Antichrist, the end of the world and pure will.
In the vicinity of Bogucharovo there were more and more large villages, state-owned and quitrent landowners. There were very few landowners living in this area; There were also very few servants and literate people, and in the life of the peasants of this area, those mysterious currents of Russian folk life, the causes and significance of which are inexplicable to contemporaries, were more noticeable and stronger than in others. One of these phenomena was the movement that appeared about twenty years ago between the peasants of this area to move to some warm rivers. Hundreds of peasants, including those from Bogucharov, suddenly began to sell their livestock and leave with their families somewhere to the southeast. Like birds flying somewhere across the seas, these people with their wives and children strove to the southeast, where none of them had been. They went up in caravans, bathed one by one, ran, and rode, and went there, to the warm rivers. Many were punished, exiled to Siberia, many died of cold and hunger along the way, many returned on their own, and the movement died down by itself just as it had begun without an obvious reason. But the underwater currents did not stop flowing in this people and gathered for some kind of new strength, which has to manifest itself just as strangely, unexpectedly and at the same time simply, naturally and strongly. Now, in 1812, for a person who lived close to the people, it was noticeable that these underwater jets were doing strong work and were close to manifestation.
Alpatych, having arrived in Bogucharovo some time before the death of the old prince, noticed that there was unrest among the people and that, contrary to what was happening in the Bald Mountains strip on a sixty-verst radius, where all the peasants left (letting the Cossacks ruin their villages), in the steppe strip , in Bogucharovskaya, the peasants, as was heard, had relations with the French, received some papers that passed between them, and remained in place. He knew through the servants loyal to him that the other day the peasant Karp, who had a great influence on the world, was traveling with a government cart, returned with the news that the Cossacks were destroying the villages from which the inhabitants were leaving, but that the French were not touching them. He knew that yesterday another man had even brought from the village of Visloukhova - where the French were stationed - a paper from the French general, in which the residents were told that no harm would be done to them and that they would pay for everything that was taken from them if they stayed. To prove this, the man brought from Visloukhov one hundred rubles in banknotes (he did not know that they were counterfeit), given to him in advance for the hay.
Finally, and most importantly, Alpatych knew that on the very day he ordered the headman to collect carts to take the princess’s train from Bogucharovo, there was a meeting in the village in the morning, at which it was supposed not to be taken out and to wait. Meanwhile, time was running out. The leader, on the day of the prince’s death, August 15, insisted to Princess Mary that she leave on the same day, as it was becoming dangerous. He said that after the 16th he is not responsible for anything. On the day of the prince’s death, he left in the evening, but promised to come to the funeral the next day. But the next day he could not come, since, according to the news he himself received, the French had unexpectedly moved, and he only managed to take his family and everything valuable from his estate.
For about thirty years Bogucharov was ruled by the elder Dron, whom the old prince called Dronushka.
Dron was one of those physically and morally strong men who, as soon as they get old, grow a beard, and so, without changing, live up to sixty or seventy years, without a single gray hair or missing tooth, just as straight and strong at sixty years old , just like at thirty.
Dron, soon after moving to the warm rivers, in which he participated, like others, was made head mayor in Bogucharovo and since then he has served in this position impeccably for twenty-three years. The men were more afraid of him than the master. The gentlemen, the old prince, the young prince, and the manager, respected him and jokingly called him minister. Throughout his service, Dron was never drunk or sick; never, neither after sleepless nights, nor after any kind of work, did he show the slightest fatigue and, not knowing how to read and write, never forgot a single account of money and pounds of flour for the huge carts that he sold, and not a single shock of snakes for bread on every tithe of Bogucharovo fields.
This Drona Alpatych, who came from the devastated Bald Mountains, called to him on the day of the prince’s funeral and ordered him to prepare twelve horses for the princess’s carriages and eighteen carts for the convoy, which was to be raised from Bogucharovo. Although the men were given quitrents, the execution of this order could not encounter difficulties, according to Alpatych, since in Bogucharovo there were two hundred and thirty taxes and the men were wealthy. But Headman Dron, having listened to the order, silently lowered his eyes. Alpatych named him the men whom he knew and from whom he ordered the carts to be taken.
Dron replied that these men had horses as carriers. Alpatych named other men, and those horses did not have, according to Dron, some were under government carts, others were powerless, and others had horses that died from lack of food. Horses, according to Dron, could not be collected not only for the convoy, but also for the carriages.
Alpatych looked carefully at Dron and frowned. Just as Dron was an exemplary peasant headman, it was not for nothing that Alpatych managed the prince’s estates for twenty years and was an exemplary manager. He is in highest degree He was able to understand by instinct the needs and instincts of the people with whom he dealt, and therefore he was an excellent manager. Looking at Dron, he immediately realized that Dron’s answers were not an expression of Dron’s thoughts, but an expression of the general mood of the Bogucharov world, which the headman was already captured by. But at the same time, he knew that Dron, who had profited and was hated by the world, had to oscillate between two camps - the master's and the peasant's. He noticed this hesitation in his gaze, and therefore Alpatych, frowning, moved closer to Dron.
- You, Dronushka, listen! - he said. - Don't tell me nothing. His Excellency Prince Andrei Nikolaich themselves ordered me to send all the people and not stay with the enemy, and there is a royal order for this. And whoever remains is a traitor to the king. Do you hear?
“I’m listening,” Dron answered without raising his eyes.
Alpatych was not satisfied with this answer.
- Hey, Drone, this will be bad! - Alpatych said, shaking his head.
- The power is yours! - Dron said sadly.
- Hey, Drone, leave it! - Alpatych repeated, taking his hand out of his bosom and with a solemn gesture pointing it to the floor at Dron’s feet. “It’s not that I can see right through you, I can see right through everything three arshins below you,” he said, peering at the floor at Dron’s feet.
The drone became embarrassed, glanced briefly at Alpatych and lowered his eyes again.
“You leave the nonsense and tell the people to get ready to leave their houses for Moscow and prepare carts tomorrow morning for the princesses’ train, but don’t go to the meeting yourself.” Do you hear?
The drone suddenly fell at his feet.
- Yakov Alpatych, fire me! Take the keys from me, dismiss me for Christ's sake.
- Leave it! - Alpatych said sternly. “I can see three arshins right under you,” he repeated, knowing that his skill in following bees, his knowledge of when to sow oats, and the fact that for twenty years he knew how to please the old prince had long ago gained him the reputation of a sorcerer and that his ability to see three arshins under a person is attributed to sorcerers.
The drone stood up and wanted to say something, but Alpatych interrupted him:
- What did you think of this? Eh?.. What do you think? A?
– What should I do with the people? - said Dron. - It completely exploded. That's what I tell them...
“That’s what I’m saying,” said Alpatych. - Do they drink? – he asked briefly.
– Yakov Alpatych got all worked up: another barrel was brought.
- So listen. I’ll go to the police officer, and you tell the people, so that they give up this, and so that there are carts.
“I’m listening,” answered Dron.
Yakov Alpatych did not insist any more. He had ruled the people for a long time and knew that the main way to get people to obey was to not show them any doubt that they might disobey. Having obtained from Dron the obedient “I listen with,” Yakov Alpatych was satisfied with this, although he not only doubted, but was almost sure that the carts would not be delivered without the help of a military team.
And indeed, by evening the carts were not assembled. In the village at the tavern there was again a meeting, and at the meeting it was necessary to drive the horses into the forest and not give out the carts. Without saying anything about this to the princess, Alpatych ordered his own luggage to be packed from those who had come from Bald Mountains and to prepare these horses for the princess’s carriages, and he himself went to the authorities.

X
After her father's funeral, Princess Marya locked herself in her room and did not let anyone in. A girl came to the door to say that Alpatych had come to ask for orders to leave. (This was even before Alpatych’s conversation with Dron.) Princess Marya rose from the sofa on which she was lying and said through the closed door that she would never go anywhere and asked to be left alone.
The windows of the room in which Princess Marya lay were facing west. She lay on the sofa facing the wall and, fingering the buttons on the leather pillow, saw only this pillow, and her vague thoughts were focused on one thing: she was thinking about the irreversibility of death and about that spiritual abomination of hers, which she had not known until now and which showed up during her father’s illness. She wanted, but did not dare to pray, did not dare to state of mind, in which she was, turn to God. She lay in this position for a long time.
The sun set on the other side of the house and slanting evening rays through the open windows illuminated the room and part of the morocco pillow that Princess Marya was looking at. Her train of thought suddenly stopped. She unconsciously stood up, straightened her hair, stood up and went to the window, involuntarily inhaling the coolness of a clear but windy evening.
“Yes, now it’s convenient for you to admire in the evening! He’s already gone, and no one will bother you,” she said to herself, and, sinking into a chair, she fell head first on the windowsill.
Someone called her in a gentle and quiet voice from the side of the garden and kissed her on the head. She looked back. It was M lle Bourienne, in a black dress and plungers. She quietly approached Princess Marya, kissed her with a sigh and immediately began to cry. Princess Marya looked back at her. All previous clashes with her, jealousy towards her, were remembered by Princess Marya; I also remembered how he Lately changed to m lle Bourienne, could not see her, and, therefore, how unfair were the reproaches that Princess Marya made to her in her soul. “And should I, who wanted his death, condemn anyone? - she thought.
Princess Marya vividly imagined the position of m lle Bourienne, who had recently been distant from her society, but at the same time dependent on her and living in someone else’s house. And she felt sorry for her. She looked at her meekly questioningly and extended her hand. M lle Bourienne immediately began to cry, began to kiss her hand and talk about the grief that befell the princess, making herself a participant in this grief. She said that the only consolation in her grief was that the princess allowed her to share it with her. She said that all former misunderstandings should be destroyed before great grief, that she felt pure in front of everyone and that from there he could see her love and gratitude. The princess listened to her, not understanding her words, but occasionally looking at her and listening to the sounds of her voice.
“Your situation is doubly terrible, dear princess,” said M lle Bourienne, after a pause. – I understand that you could not and cannot think about yourself; but I am obliged to do this with my love for you... Was Alpatych with you? Did he talk to you about leaving? – she asked.
Princess Marya did not answer. She did not understand where and who was supposed to go. “Was it possible to do anything now, to think about anything? Doesn't it matter? She didn't answer.
“Do you know, chere Marie,” said m lle Bourienne, “do you know that we are in danger, that we are surrounded by the French; It's dangerous to travel now. If we go, we will almost certainly be captured, and God knows...
Princess Marya looked at her friend, not understanding what she was saying.
“Oh, if only someone knew how much I don’t care now,” she said. - Of course, I would never want to leave him... Alpatych told me something about leaving... Talk to him, I can’t do anything, I don’t want anything...
– I talked to him. He hopes that we will have time to leave tomorrow; but I think that now it would be better to stay here,” said m lle Bourienne. - Because, you see, chere Marie, falling into the hands of soldiers or rioting men on the road would be terrible. - M lle Bourienne took out from her reticule an announcement on a non-Russian extraordinary paper from the French General Rameau that residents should not leave their homes, that they would be given due protection by the French authorities, and handed it to the princess.
“I think it’s better to contact this general,” said m lle Bourienne, “and I’m sure that you will be given due respect.”
Princess Marya read the paper, and dry sobs shook her face.
-Who did you get this through? - she said.
“They probably found out that I’m French by name,” said m lle Bourienne, blushing.
Princess Marya, with a paper in her hand, stood up from the window and, with a pale face, left the room and went to the former office of Prince Andrei.
“Dunyasha, call Alpatych, Dronushka, someone to me,” said Princess Marya, “and tell Amalya Karlovna not to come to me,” she added, hearing the voice of m lle Bourienne. - Hurry up and go! Go quickly! - said Princess Marya, horrified by the thought that she could remain in the power of the French.
“So that Prince Andrei knows that she is in the power of the French! So that she, the daughter of Prince Nikolai Andreich Bolkonsky, asks Mr. General Rameau to provide her with protection and enjoy his benefits! “This thought terrified her, made her shudder, blush and feel attacks of anger and pride that she had not yet experienced. Everything that was difficult and, most importantly, offensive in her position, was vividly imagined to her. “They, the French, will settle in this house; Mr. General Rameau will occupy the office of Prince Andrei; It will be fun to sort through and read his letters and papers. M lle Bourienne lui fera les honneurs de Bogucharovo. [Mademoiselle Bourien will receive him with honors in Bogucharovo.] They will give me a room out of mercy; soldiers will destroy their father's fresh grave to remove crosses and stars from him; they will tell me about victories over the Russians, they will feign sympathy for my grief... - Princess Marya thought not with her own thoughts, but feeling obligated to think for herself with the thoughts of her father and brother. For her personally, it didn’t matter where she stayed and no matter what happened to her; but at the same time she felt like a representative of her late father and Prince Andrei. She involuntarily thought with their thoughts and felt them with their feelings. Whatever they would say, whatever they would do now, that is what she felt necessary to do. She went to Prince Andrei’s office and, trying to penetrate his thoughts, pondered her situation.
The demands of life, which she considered destroyed with the death of her father, suddenly arose with a new, still unknown force before Princess Marya and overwhelmed her. Excited, red-faced, she walked around the room, demanding first Alpatych, then Mikhail Ivanovich, then Tikhon, then Dron. Dunyasha, the nanny and all the girls could not say anything about the extent to which what M lle Bourienne announced was fair. Alpatych was not at home: he had gone to see his superiors. The summoned Mikhail Ivanovich, the architect, who came to Princess Marya with sleepy eyes, could not say anything to her. With exactly the same smile of agreement with which he had been accustomed for fifteen years to respond, without expressing his opinion, to the old prince’s appeals, he answered Princess Marya’s questions, so that nothing definite could be deduced from his answers. The summoned old valet Tikhon, with a sunken and haggard face, bearing the imprint of incurable grief, answered “I listen with” to all the questions of Princess Marya and could hardly restrain himself from sobbing, looking at her.

August-September 1944 was marked by a brilliant operation, as a result of which the Soviet army opened the gates to the Balkans, two of Hitler's allies - Romania and Bulgaria - withdrew from the war, and the Balkan issue was resolved in favor of the Soviet Union. This is the Iasi-Chisinau strategic offensive.

W. Churchill called the Balkans “the soft underbelly of Europe” and initially planned to open a Second Front precisely in the Balkans, including in order to stop the Red Army and prevent the penetration of Soviet influence into the Central and Southern Europe. In his memoirs, the English Prime Minister will write: “After we broke into Sicily and Italy in the summer of 1943, the thought of the Balkans, and especially Yugoslavia, did not leave me for a minute.” And the American journalist R. Intersall will directly state: “The Balkans were the magnet to which, no matter how you shook the compass, the arrow of British strategy invariably pointed...” However, first the objections of Roosevelt and Stalin, who insisted on the landing in Normandy, and then the operational situation in Italy, northern France and Belgium buried distant strategic plans Churchill.

The situation was favorable for a Russian breakthrough into the Balkans. Hitler was forced to transfer 12 divisions, including 6 tanks, from Army Group Southern Ukraine to Poland and Germany, despite the obvious threat - to Germany's oil heartland - and the concern of dictator Ion Antonescu, who was threatened with invasion from without and conspiracies from within. The liberation of Moldova and the transfer of the war to the territory of Romania was to be carried out by the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts (commanders R.Ya. Malinovsky, F.I. Tolbukhin). The total strength of both fronts was 1.3 million people, 16,000 guns and mortars, 1,870 tanks and self-propelled guns, 22,000 aircraft and all the forces of the Black Sea Fleet.

The preparations of the Soviet troops were no secret to the Germans, but they could not do anything.

They were opposed by Army Group “Southern Ukraine” under the command of the skilled Colonel General G. Friesner, numbering 900 thousand people, 7,600 guns and mortars, over 400 tanks and assault guns, and more than 800 aircraft. By chance - or irony of fate - the disposition of his troops mirrored Stalingrad: in the center of the salient was the repeatedly beaten 6th Army, and on the flanks, as at Stalingrad, were the rather weak 3rd and 4th Romanian armies. This is in in a certain sense determined the strategic concept of the operation - “new Cannes”: two strikes at a long distance on Iasi and Chisinau, respectively. In breakthrough areas, the superiority of our troops reached: in people - 4-8 times, in artillery - 6-11 times, in tanks - 6 times. The artillery density reached 280 guns and 1 km of front, while at Stalingrad it did not exceed 117 guns per 1 km. Contrary to popular belief, the preparations of the Soviet troops were not a secret to the Germans, but they could not do anything.

Both fronts began to advance at dawn on August 20 simultaneously. The artillery strike at 7:40 am was so strong that the first line of German defense was completely destroyed. This is how one of the participants in those battles from the Soviet side describes the state of the German defense in his memoirs: “When we moved forward, the terrain was black to a depth of about 10 kilometers. The enemy's defenses were practically destroyed. Enemy trenches, dug at full height, turned into shallow ditches no more than knee-deep. The dugouts were destroyed. Sometimes dugouts miraculously survived, but the enemy soldiers in them were dead, although there were no signs of wounds. came from high pressure air after shell explosions and suffocation.”

The blows were so strong that the Romanian defense was broken through on the first day to a tactical depth, that is, 10-16 km. A few hours after the start of the offensive, the 6th Tank Army of General A.G. entered the breakthrough. Kravchenko. The history of modern troops has never known such an example. Within 24 hours, 9 divisions were defeated at once.

On August 20, during a breakthrough in the battles in the Tirgu-Frumos area, Sergeant Alexander Shevchenko distinguished himself. The advance of his company was in jeopardy due to enemy fire coming from the bunker. Attempts to suppress the bunker with artillery fire from indirect firing positions were unsuccessful. Then Shevchenko rushed to the embrasure and covered it with his body, opening the way for the assault group. For his accomplished feat, Shevchenko was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In the Dumitrescu army group, both divisions of the 29th Romanian Corps completely disintegrated, and in the Veler group, five Romanian divisions were defeated. By the end of August 21, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front had finally crushed the enemy’s defenses. Having expanded the breakthrough to 65 km along the front and to 40 km in depth, they captured the cities of Iasi. Tirgu-Frumos and entered the operational space. The troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front advanced to a depth of 35 km, expanding the breakthrough along the front to 90 km, and rushed towards their neighbors. The ring around the German 6th Army was steadily shrinking, its commander fled. On the morning of August 22, the German command began to withdraw troops from the Chisinau ledge beyond the Prut River. “But it was already too late,” G. Friesner would later say in his memoirs. By the end of the day, strike groups of two Ukrainian fronts had intercepted the enemy’s main escape routes to the west. And a day later, the representative of the Headquarters on the fronts, Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Tymoshenko will report to I.V. at 23:30. Stalin: “As a result of four days of operation, the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts today, August 23, completed the operational encirclement of the enemy’s Chisinau grouping...”

In the cauldron there were, as well as under, 18 Romanian and German divisions. They were surrounded by 34 divisions, engaged in the destruction of the encircled. It took them four days to do this. By the end of August 27, the operation was completed: 208,000 people were captured, along with the remnants of the 3rd Romanian Army, which retreated to the Black Sea. Soon they destroyed that part of the troops that crossed to the western bank of the Prut with the intention of breaking through to the Carpathian passes.

The defeat of the German and Romanian forces sparked a revolution in Romania. Back on June 20, representatives of the communist, social democratic and national liberal parties agreed to create a National Democratic Bloc to eliminate the Antonescu regime and Romania’s exit from the war. King Mihai of Romania coordinated all actions. After the defeats at Iasi and Chisinau, the army ceased to obey. On August 23, during an audience with the king, dictator I. Antonescu, his deputy M. Antonescu and other government ministers were arrested, parts of the Bucharest garrison were ordered to occupy and defend government agencies, post office, telegraph, telephone exchange. Bucharest Radio announced the overthrow of Antonescu, the creation of a government of national unity, the cessation of hostilities against the United Nations and the acceptance of armistice terms by Romania.

General Guderian suggested that Hitler “take all measures to ensure that Romania disappears from the map of Europe, and the Romanian people cease to exist as a nation...”

More than 50 Soviet divisions rushed to help the rebels in order to help the rebels and neutralize the German divisions that were still on the territory of Romania. Hitler ordered to suppress the uprising, while the Chief of the General Staff, General Guderian, suggested that Hitler “take all measures to ensure that Romania disappears from the map of Europe, and the Romanian people cease to exist as a nation...” After this, there is nothing to say about the innocence of the German generals in the crimes of Nazism, their humanity and chivalry: only thanks to the incomprehensible “humanism” of the allies, some of them escaped from well-deserved retribution. And, however, the Germans did not succeed: the 14,000-strong German garrison of Bucharest was knocked out by retreating Romanian troops, and 7,000 Germans were captured on August 29. On August 30, Soviet troops entered Bucharest: units of the 6th Tank, 53rd Soviet armies, as well as the 1st Romanian Volunteer Infantry Division named after Tudor Vladimirescu, which was already fighting as part of our troops.

The results of the Iasi-Kishinev operation were amazing: by September 3, Soviet troops destroyed 22 German divisions, including 18 divisions that were surrounded, and also defeated almost all the Romanian troops located at the front. 209 thousand soldiers and officers were captured, including 25 generals, 400 tanks were destroyed and 340 were captured in good working order, 1,500 were destroyed and 2,000 guns were captured, 298 were destroyed and 40 aircraft and many other military equipment and weapons were captured. At the same time, the losses of our troops were the lowest since the beginning of the war. They amounted to: irrevocable - 13,197 people, sanitary - 53,933 people.

Romanian troops switched sides Soviet army and together with it they began to fight against their recent allies, which was legally recorded on September 12, 1944 by the inclusion of Romania in the anti-Hitler coalition.

The great Russian elder Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) fought in Romania. The liberation of Romania was not easy. According to the recollections of the late Sergei Nikolaevich Spitsyn, who also fought in Romania, the Germans, when leaving, resisted stubbornly and did not stop at extreme cruelty. One day they slaughtered a dozen of our soldiers, finding them sleepy. And against this background, the generosity of the Russian people is striking. In one of the Romanian villages, Sergei Nikolaevich’s colleagues captured a platoon of Germans. One of the young soldiers, who had recently arrived from the rear, began waving a machine gun: “I’ll shoot them all, the bastards, now.” They took him aside and explained it briefly and clearly: “You fight ours, then start yelling.” The prisoners were safely taken to the rear. And it becomes clear why we won. God was with the Russian soldier during that war.

By the beginning of the operation, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian (commander Army General R.Ya. Malinovsky) and 3rd Ukrainian (commander Army General F.I. Tolbukhin) fronts were at the line Krasnoilsk, Pashkani, north of Iasi, further along the Dniester to the Black Sea , and occupied an enveloping position in relation to the enemy group. In the Kitskani area, south of Tiraspol, Soviet troops held an important bridgehead on the right bank of the Dniester. In front of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts, the army group “Southern Ukraine” (commander Colonel General G. Friessner) defended, consisting of the 8th and 6th German, 3rd and 4th Romanian armies and the 17th th German separate army corps, total number 900 thousand people, 7.6 thousand guns and mortars, over 400 tanks and assault guns. They were supported by part of the forces of the 4th Air Fleet and the Romanian air corps, which had 810 aircraft. The enemy, using the mountainous terrain and numerous rivers, created a powerful, deeply echeloned (up to 80 km) defense with a developed system of engineering structures. In the center of Army Group “Southern Ukraine” in the Chisinau direction, the most combat-ready German 6th Army occupied the defense, and on the flanks were mainly Romanian troops.

The Soviet command skillfully took advantage of the advantageous configuration of the front line and the weak support for the flanks of the enemy group. According to the plan of the operation, the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts, with attacks from the north and east in two areas far apart from each other (northwest of Yassy and south of Bender), were supposed to break through the enemy’s defenses and, developing an offensive along converging lines to the area Hushi, Vaslui, Falciu directions, encircle and destroy the main forces of Army Group “Southern Ukraine”, then develop an offensive deep into Romania at a high pace. The 2nd Ukrainian Front delivered the main blow with the forces of the 27th, 52nd, 53rd and 6th Tank Armies from the area north-west of Iasi in the general direction of Vaslui, Falciu, cutting off the retreat routes of the Iasi-Kishinev enemy group to the west, an auxiliary attack with forces of 7 1st Guards Army and Cavalry Mechanized Group (KMG) along the river. Siret to secure the right flank of the main group.

After encircling the Iasi-Kishinev group, the main forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front were to advance in the general direction of Focsani, forming an external front of encirclement, and the troops of the left wing were to create an internal front of encirclement and, together with the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, destroy the encircled group. The 3rd Ukrainian Front delivered the main attack with the forces of the 57th, 37th and right wing of the 46th armies from the Kitskan bridgehead in the direction of Khushi, an auxiliary attack - with part of the forces of the 46th Army in cooperation with the Danube military flotilla through the Dnieper estuary in the direction of Belgorod -Dnestrovsky (Ackerman). The Danube military flotilla (commanded by Rear Admiral S.G. Gorshkov) was supposed to land troops northwest and south of Akkerman, and with the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front reaching the Danube, assist them in crossing the river and provide Soviet ships and ships have unhindered movement along it. After encircling the enemy's Iasi-Kishinev grouping, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front were given the task of developing an offensive in the general direction of Reni and Izmail, preventing the enemy from retreating beyond the Prut and Danube. The actions of the ground forces were supported by the 5th and 17th air armies. The Black Sea Fleet (commanded by Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky) had the task of supporting the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front with fire and disrupting the enemy’s sea communications. The coordination of the actions of the fronts was carried out by the representative of the Supreme Command Headquarters, Marshal S.K. Tymoshenko.

To carry out the operation, 1.25 million people, 16 thousand guns and mortars, 1,870 tanks and self-propelled guns and 2,200 combat aircraft (including naval aviation) were involved. The Soviet troops included the 1st Romanian Volunteer Division named after. T. Vladimirescu. 67-72% of infantry, up to 61% of artillery, 85% of tanks and self-propelled guns were concentrated in the directions of the main attacks. Almost all aviation. Thanks to this, in the breakthrough areas the fronts had an advantage over the enemy: in men - 4-8 times, in artillery - 6-11 times, in tanks and self-propelled guns - 6 times. This provided them with the opportunity to continuously increase the power of offensive attacks.

On August 16, the command received an order to launch an offensive “due to readiness” - for secrecy purposes, the word “relocation” was used in such cases.

PROGRESS OF THE OPERATION: FIRST STAGE

The offensive of both fronts began on August 20 after powerful artillery and, on the 3rd Ukrainian Front, air preparation. On the 1st day, troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front broke through the enemy’s defenses to the entire tactical depth and advanced 16 km. In the zone of the 27th Army, already in the middle of the day, the 6th Tank Army was introduced into the breakthrough. By the end of the day, its formations reached the enemy’s 3rd defensive line, which ran along the Mare ridge. The offensive of the 3rd Ukrainian Front also developed at a high pace. During the day, the 37th and 46th armies broke through the main line of enemy defense and, having advanced 12 km in depth, in some places wedged themselves into the 2nd line. On the second day, the enemy brought units of 12 divisions, including 2 tank divisions, to the breakthrough area of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, and tried to stop his advance with counterattacks. However, the entry into battle in the zone of the 52nd Army of the 18th Tank Corps, and in the auxiliary - the 7th Guards Army and the KMG of Major General S.I. Gorshkov thwarted the enemy's plans. By the end of the second day, the front troops crushed the enemy’s defenses, overcoming his 3rd defensive line, and, having advanced to 40 km in depth, captured the city. Iasi and Targu Frumos. The troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front also completed a breakthrough of the enemy’s defense that day. The 7th and 4th Guards Mechanized Corps brought into the battle advanced up to 30 km in depth and actually cut off the 6th German Army from the 3rd Romanian Army. Front-line aviation provided great assistance to the ground forces. Over two days, the 5th and 17th Air Armies flew about 6,350 sorties.

Developing success on the internal front of the encirclement, on August 23, the 18th Tank Corps of the 2nd Ukrainian Front reached the Khushi area, and the 7th and 4th Guards Mechanized Corps of the 3rd Ukrainian Front reached the crossings on the river. Prut in the area of Leuseni and Leovo. The operational encirclement of the enemy group in Chisinau (18 divisions) was completed. On the same day, the troops of the 46th Army, which the day before, in cooperation with the Danube military flotilla, had crossed the Dniester estuary, surrounded, with the assistance of the flotilla, the 3rd Romanian Army, which stopped resistance the next day. On August 24, troops of the 5th Shock Army liberated the capital of the Moldavian SSR, Chisinau. Thus, on the 5th day, as envisaged by the plan, the first stage of the strategic operation was completed, during which the encirclement of the main forces of Army Group “Southern Ukraine” was achieved.

PROGRESS OF THE OPERATION: SECOND STAGE

At the second stage of the Iasi-Kishinev operation Soviet command, having allocated 34 divisions to the internal front to eliminate the encircled group, used the main forces of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts (more than 50 divisions) to develop success on the external front of the encirclement, deep into Romania. By the end of August 27, the encircled area to the east of the river was liquidated. Prut, and on August 29 - units that managed to cross the river. Prut southwest of Khushi. At the same time, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, building on their success towards Northern Transylvania and in the Focsani direction, liberated Focsani on August 27, and reached Ploiesti on August 29. Troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, advancing south along both banks of the Danube, cut off their escape routes defeated troops enemy to Bucharest. The Danube Military Flotilla and the Black Sea Fleet, assisting the offensive of the ground forces, ensured crossings across the Danube, landed troops, and carried out naval aviation strikes. By August 30, Messrs. were released. Tulcea, Galati, Constanta (the main naval base of Romania), Sulina, etc.

IASSI-CHISINAU CANNES

The Iasi-Kishinev operation is one of the largest and most outstanding in its strategic and military-political significance operations of the USSR armed forces. During its course, in a short period of time, Army Group “Southern Ukraine” was completely destroyed, 22 German divisions were destroyed, and almost all the Romanian divisions located at the front were defeated. The German defense on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front collapsed, favorable conditions were created for the victory of the uprising of the Romanian people against the pro-German dictatorial regime, Romania came out of the war on the side of Germany and on August 24 declared war on it. Soviet losses during the course they were relatively small - 67 thousand people, of which 13 thousand were irrevocable.

For combat distinctions, 126 formations and units of the ground forces and navy that participated in the Iasi-Chisinau operation were awarded the honorary names of Chisinau, Iasi, Focshansky, Rymnitsky, Konstansky and others.

DOCUMENTATION

To the Commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front

Comrade Malinovsky.

Comrade Tikhonov.

The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command orders:

1. In view of readiness, resettlement should begin within the time period established in Moscow.

2. Report the orders given.

Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.

TsAMO. F. 148a. OP. 3763. D. 166. L. 442.

To the Military Council of the 3rd Ukrainian Front

Extraordinary report on August 24, 1944.

On the night of August 23, 1944, troops from the Shock Army broke through the enemy’s defenses and, rapidly moving forward, at 17:00 on August 23, 1944, they broke into the capital of the Moldavian SSR, the city of CHISINAU, and captured it by storm by about 04:00 on August 24, 1944.

For 8/23/44, units and formations of the 5th Shock Army fought over 40 kilometers, liberating more than 200 settlements.

In the battles for the capture of the city of CHISINAU, the troops of the Guard of Major General FIRSOV, the Guard of Major General ZHEREBIN, the Guard of Major General SERYUGIN, the Guard of Major General SOKOLOV, the Guard of Major General SYZRANOV, and Colonel FOMICHENKO distinguished themselves.

Artillerymen: Major General Kosenko, Lieutenant Colonel Klimenkov, Colonel PAVLOV, Lieutenant Colonel DMITRIEV, Guard Lieutenant Colonel RAKHNIN, Lieutenant Colonel KOTOV, flamethrowers of Lieutenant Colonel LIZUNOV.

Sappers: Lieutenant Colonel FURS, Colonel CHEVYCHELOV.

BERZARIN, BOKOV, KUCHEV.

TsAMO. F. 243. Op. 2912. D. 97. L. 408.

Comrade STALIN.

Today is the day of the defeat of the German-Romanian troops in BESSARABIA and on the territory of ROMANIA, west of the Prut River.

The first, main task you set to the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts was completed by them. The German-Romanian troops are defeated, their remnants flee in disarray across the SERET River.

The main German, CHISINAU grouping is surrounded and destroyed.

Observing the skilful leadership of troops on a large scale on the part of MALINOVSKY and TOLBUKHIN, I consider their unwavering will in carrying out your order to be my duty: to ask for your petition to the Presidium Supreme Council USSR on awarding the military rank “Marshal of the Soviet Union” to army generals MALINOVSKY and TOLBUKHIN.

I think that this government event will give them such strength that no Focsani gate can hold it.

TYMOSHENKO. 24.8. 44 12.30

TsAMO. F. 48a. Op. 3410. D. 116. L. 690-691.

MEMORIES

By order of Hitler, we should now begin bombing Bucharest from the air, with the main targets being the royal palace and the government quarter of the city.

I ordered my Chief of Staff, General Grolman, to again try to draw the attention of the High Command to the clause in the communiqué of the new Bucharest government, which was distinguished by loyalty and allowed all German troops to withdraw unhindered from Romania. At the same time, I asked you to pay Special attention that in the event of our bombing of the Romanian capital, Romanian troops will inevitably begin military operations against all German troops and rear institutions - hospitals, ammunition depots, military equipment and food warehouses. In order to delay the execution of the bombing order, I ordered the 4th Air Fleet to first clarify the existing prerequisites for this. Now it all came down to gaining time.

To our great surprise, we learned that the bombing had already begun, without the knowledge or participation of the Army Group Commander-in-Chief, without taking into account the situation in which German soldiers fought heavy battles on Romanian territory, without taking into account the situation in which, in fact, the rear organs of the army group, now abandoned to the mercy of fate, found themselves!

Only much later, while in captivity, did I accidentally learn the circumstances of this case. It turns out that Hitler after my phone call On August 23, he himself raised the issue of the bombing of Bucharest in the evening of the same day in a conversation with Goering. He immediately contacted General Gerstenberg by telephone, who was also our air attaché in Romania. In this conversation, General Gerstenberg, apparently, again characterized the situation too superficially and demanded the use of dive bombers, without thinking about the consequences of this step. Goering, too, without hesitation, gave the order. I was pushed aside.

The consequences were catastrophic! The Romanian troops were ordered by their king to treat all Germans as enemies, disarm them and engage them in battle. Even those sections of the Romanian population who until now did not approve of the decisions of their government and were loyal to us changed their attitude towards us. On August 25, Romania declared war on Germany! So our former allies turned into new enemies. Chaos has reached its climax.

Frisner G. Lost battles. M., 1966.

On August 20, the Iasi-Kishinev operation began. The troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts went on the offensive. At the same time, the Black Sea Fleet Air Force attacked Constanta, the main naval base of Romania.

According to intelligence data, there were up to 150 warships, auxiliary vessels and watercraft in the port of Constanta at that time. About 50 ships and vessels were based in Sulina. In short, the main forces of the enemy fleet were located in these two Romanian ports.

The blow was thought out to the smallest detail. It was decided to bomb Sulina first. Four groups of attack aircraft were sent there - about 30 Il-2s, accompanied by fighters. While the enemy was repelling this attack, single aircraft of the 5th Mine and Torpedo Aviation Regiment dropped smoke bombs on Constanta, blinding enemy anti-aircraft artillery. Most of the fascist fighters were drawn to Sulina. The main forces of our aviation took advantage of this. The 13th dive bomber division, consisting of 59 aircraft, under the cover of 77 fighters, flew into Constanta. The blows were delivered in three groups. About 70 warships and vessels were destroyed or damaged, and great destruction was caused in the port. Fleet aviation attacks on Constanta and Sulina continued until August 25. Both fascist ports were essentially paralyzed.

...The rapid advance of Soviet troops sealed the fate of Antonescu's pro-fascist government. On August 23, an armed uprising broke out in Romania. The position of German troops in Romania became precarious. However, the Nazi leadership did not yet lose hope of restoring their lost political and military positions. On Hitler's orders, German troops launched an attack on Bucharest, and their aircraft bombed the Romanian capital. Then the newly formed Romanian government announced fascist Germany war. In the area of Bucharest and Ploesti, fighting began between yesterday's allies - German and Romanian units.

After encircling the Chisinau group, the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts continued their offensive in the southwestern and western directions.

The commander of the Black Sea Fleet divided the forces operating in the Danube basin into two groups. The Danube military flotilla was supposed to move up the Danube to assist the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in crossing the river, and the formed Reserve Naval Base of the Black Sea Fleet (commander - Captain 1st Rank A.V. Sverdlov) received the task of gaining a foothold in Vilkovo , and then capture Sulina and ensure freedom of navigation in the delta and lower reaches of the Danube.

On August 26, the ships of the flotilla occupied Tulcea, and a detachment of sixteen armored boats and the 384th separate Nikolaev battalion Marine Corps On August 27, they captured the port of Sulina. The Romanian river flotilla capitulated, and we completely captured the lower reaches of the Danube. The enemy's coastal group was completely surrounded.

The most important features of the combat activities of the Black Sea Fleet forces to capture the Danube Delta were the rapid re-deployment of forces, the rapid pace of advance and the skillful conduct of independent actions until direct contact with ground forces was established. This helped the Black Sea people reach the most important Danube ports and capture them even before the arrival of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. On the afternoon of August 25, the commander of the Danube military flotilla, Rear Admiral S.G. Gorshkov, reported from Kiliya to the People's Commissar of the Navy and the commander of the Black Sea Fleet: “There are no army units. Please clarify the situation at the front.”

The naval group at the headquarters of the 3rd Ukrainian Front also received a message:

“Report to Biryuzov:

Kilia is occupied by landing forces, and until the troops of the 46th Army reach the Danube, Gorshkov’s position is tense.”

The way to the Balkans was open for the Soviet Armed Forces.

Kuznetsov N.G. Course to victory. M., 2000.

Having instructions from Headquarters, the General Staff had to take into account the situation developing in a particular country, all the complex political issues and even - where more, where less - to participate in their resolution. We were reminded more than once at Headquarters about the new situation in which the troops were now advancing. R.Ya. was also warned many times. Malinovsky, whose front was the main force in Romania and Hungary, about the special importance of the political task entrusted to his troops.

Our two fronts - the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian - were opposed by the group of fascist German armies “Southern Ukraine”. It consisted of two German (8th and 6th) and two Romanian (4th and 3rd) armies, the 17th separate German army corps and many other infantry and special units.

The resistance of the enemy troops was very significant. Past battles testified to this. For a long time, Army Group “Southern Ukraine” was commanded by one of the most capable German military leaders, Colonel General Scherner - he subsequently fiercely resisted Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia even after the order for the complete surrender of Germany. At the end of July, Scherner was replaced by General Friesner. Hitler's command hoped that such a replacement would be beneficial:

Friesner was known as a military leader with extensive combat experience, although he had previously suffered setbacks in the Baltic states, where he led Army Group North. Throughout the entire zone of Army Group “Southern Ukraine”, defensive structures were built around the clock; in certain directions, newly created field positions were combined with fortified areas reinforced in advance.

When developing a plan for operations in the Balkans, in addition to the usual elements of the situation, one more circumstance had to be taken into account: the likelihood of the so-called “Balkan option” of actions by our allies. This option provided for the simultaneous opening of a second front and the invasion of Allied troops into the countries of the Balkan Peninsula. Winston Churchill outlined the “Balkan option” in general terms back in Tehran Conference and now insisted on carrying it out. If the “Balkan option” were implemented, the main role on the peninsula would be played by the Anglo-American armed forces. The Soviet Union would have to overcome significant political difficulties and do a lot of work to coordinate the actions of the allied armies. It was also possible that the allies would make attempts behind our back to come to an agreement with the Romanian government. Soon, by the way, we learned that something in this direction was already being done.

There were also difficulties in coordinating the efforts of the Soviet Armed Forces. A glance at the map convinced that simultaneous actions would be required to the south - in the interests of the liberation of Bulgaria and Yugoslavia and to the west - with the aim of defeating Nazi troops in Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia. The forces were thus scattered for some time. At the same time, it was clear that our troops would have to fight on a very wide front in extremely unfavorable terrain conditions for an offensive, since mountains, rivers and numerous settlements provided the enemy with the opportunity to successfully defend.

Along with the purely military and moral-political preparation of the Red Army for the liberation mission on the territory of the satellite countries of Hitler Germany, diplomatic measures were also taken that undermined the foundations of the Hitler coalition. In particular, on May 13, 1944, the governments of the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the USA addressed a statement to Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Finland. It said that the current policies of the governments of these countries significantly strengthen the German military machine. At the same time, these countries can shorten the duration of the war in Europe, reduce the number of their own victims and promote Allied victory. To do this, they must get out of the war, stop cooperation with Germany, which is detrimental to them, and resist the Nazis with all the means available to them. The satellite countries were warned that they needed to decide now whether they would persist in their present hopeless and disastrous policy or whether they would contribute to the overall victory of the Allies and thereby avoid responsibility for participating in the war on the side of the Nazis. This step by the Allied powers had a great political effect, as it helped to significantly strengthen the position of the Resistance forces.

...The situation in the direction of the main attack of the 2nd Ukrainian Front greatly worried the General Staff. In the middle of the day on August 21, we, as usual, contacted the headquarters of the advancing fronts by telephone and clarified the situation. Soon we had to go to the Kremlin for a report. The chief of staff of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, M.V. Zakharov, assessed the situation optimistically, believing that our troops would not linger in front of the Mare ridge and would soon quickly move forward. He also reported that he was expecting a message about the capture of Iasi any hour, and he turned out to be right.

At 15 o'clock A.I. Antonov and I were in the office of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. When it came to the situation in the southwest, I.V. Stalin, having carefully studied the map, demanded that the commanders of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts, as well as the representative of the Headquarters, be reminded of the main task of the troops they led: to encircle the enemy as quickly as possible. He dictated: “...Now the main task of the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts is to quickly close the enemy’s encirclement ring in the Khushi area with the combined efforts of the two fronts, and then narrow this ring with the aim of destroying or capturing the Chisinau group enemy."

Since a breakthrough of the enemy defense along the Mare ridge could create a temptation to throw the main forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front to pursue the Romanian troops in the direction of Roman and Focsani, and the 3rd Ukrainian Front - to Tarutino and Galati, Supreme Commander emphasized: “Headquarters requires that the main forces and means of both fronts be attracted to carry out this most important task, without diverting forces to solve other tasks. Successful solution to the task of defeating the enemy group in Chisinau will open the way for us to the main economic and political centers of Romania.”

We paid particular attention to this instruction: after all, the General Staff had to control how the instructions of Headquarters were carried out.

Concluding the dictation, J.V. Stalin said: “About 44 enemy divisions are operating in front of your both fronts, of which 6 divisions have already been defeated. You have 87 divisions, and, in addition, you have a significant superiority over the enemy in artillery, tanks and aviation. This way you have every opportunity to successful solution specified task and must solve this problem.”

To the representative of the Headquarters, Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Tymoshenko was ordered to ensure the strict implementation of this directive.

While we were reporting on the situation, new data arrived from the fronts. By 15 o'clock Iasi was taken - a powerful center of enemy defense. Due to the right flank of the troops of the 27th Army of S.G. Trofimenko began to turn west, bypassing the fortified Tirgu-Frumos, units of the 7th Guards Army of General M.S. Shumilov. They were supposed to break the enemy's defenses and ensure the actions of the main forces of the front from the western direction. The 6th Tank and 27th armies penetrated the enemy’s defenses up to 49 km, broke through it and entered the operational space. Now they could directly intercept the enemy’s most likely escape routes to the west and south and defeat his troops who were trying to avoid the planned encirclement.

The 3rd Ukrainian Front also advanced significantly: the depth of its breakthrough in the direction of action of the 4th Guards Mechanized Corps, commanded by General V.I. Zhdanov, reached 50 km. The front separated the 3rd Romanian Army from the troops of the 6th German Army.

The Headquarters directive was very timely for organizing the actions of the fronts. By the end of August 21, the enemy was no longer able to hold the advantageous positions he occupied along the Mare ridge and, under pressure from the armies of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, began to retreat. Troops R.Ya. Malinovsky with the 6th Tank Army and the 18th Tank Corps in the vanguard rushed after him, without stopping the pursuit on the night of August 22 and the entire next day. The power of the blow of the main forces of the front was supplemented by the blow of the 4th Guards Army of I.V., which went on the offensive. Galanina. Operating along the left bank of the Prut, it ensured the operation of the front from the east and at the same time crushed the defense of the enemy’s Chisinau group with a blow from north to south. By the end of the day, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front had penetrated 60 km into the enemy’s defenses and expanded the breakthrough to 120 km.

The armies of the 3rd Ukrainian Front rapidly advanced from the east to the crossings on the Prut. Overturning the resistance of the Romanian and German troops, by the end of August 22, their mobile units wedged 80 km deep into the enemy’s position and covered three-quarters of the distance to their target. On the left flank, front forces, in cooperation with the Danube military flotilla, successfully crossed the Dniester estuary.

Thus, during August 22, the contours of a huge encirclement clearly emerged, which was the essence of the operation developed by the Headquarters of the Soviet Supreme High Command to defeat the fascist German army group “Southern Ukraine” near Iasi and Chisinau.

Shtemenko S.M. General Staff during the war. M., 1989.

The Iasi-Kishinev operation began early in the morning of August 20, 1944 with a powerful artillery offensive, the first part of which consisted of suppressing enemy defenses before attacking infantry and tanks, and the second part of artillery support of the attack. At 7:40 a.m., Soviet troops, accompanied by a double barrage of fire, went on the offensive from the Kitskansky bridgehead and from the area west of Iasi.
The artillery strike was so strong that the first line of German defense was completely destroyed. This is how one of the participants in those battles describes the state of the German defense in his memoirs:
When we moved forward, the terrain was black to a depth of about ten kilometers. The enemy's defenses were practically destroyed. Enemy trenches, dug to their full height, turned into shallow ditches, no more than knee-deep. The dugouts were destroyed. Sometimes dugouts miraculously survived, but the enemy soldiers in them were dead, although there were no signs of wounds. Death occurred from high air pressure after shell explosions and suffocation.

The German command, trying to stop the advance of Soviet troops in the Iasi area, launched three infantry and one tank divisions into counterattacks. But this did not change the situation. On the second day of the offensive, the strike force of the 2nd Ukrainian Front fought stubbornly for the third zone on the Mare ridge, and the 7th Guards Army and the cavalry-mechanized group fought for Tirgu-Frumos. By the end of August 21, the front troops had expanded the breakthrough to 65 km along the front and to 40 km in depth and, having overcome all three defensive lines, captured the cities of Iasi and Tirgu-Frumos, thereby taking two powerful fortified areas in a minimum period of time. The 3rd Ukrainian Front successfully advanced in the southern sector, at the junction of the 6th German and 3rd Romanian armies.
On August 21, the Supreme Command Headquarters issued a directive according to which it was necessary “to quickly close the enemy’s encirclement ring in the Khushi area by the combined efforts of the two fronts, and then narrow this ring with the aim of destroying or capturing the enemy’s Chisinau group.”

By the end of the second day of the operation, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front isolated the 6th German Army from the 3rd Romanian Army, closing the encirclement ring of the 6th German Army near the village of Leuseni. Its commander fled, abandoning his troops. Aviation actively assisted the fronts. In two days, Soviet pilots flew about 6,350 sorties. Aviation of the Black Sea Fleet attacked Romanian and German ships and bases in Constanta and Sulina. German and Romanian troops suffered heavy losses in manpower and military equipment, especially on the main line of defense, and began to hastily retreat. In the first two days of the operation, 7 Romanian and 2 German divisions were completely defeated.

The commander of the army group "Southern Ukraine" Friesner, having analyzed the situation in detail after the first day of the offensive of the Soviet troops, realized that the battle was not in favor of the army group and decided to withdraw the troops of the army group beyond the Prut and, despite the absence of Hitler's order, brought his order to troops on August 21. The next day, August 22, he gave permission to the army group and the General Staff to withdraw troops, but it was too late. By that time, the strike groups of the Soviet fronts had already intercepted the main escape routes to the west. The German command overlooked the possibility of encircling its troops in the Chisinau region. On the night of August 22, sailors of the Danube Military Flotilla, together with the landing group of the 46th Army, successfully crossed the 11-kilometer Dniester estuary, liberated the city of Akkerman and began to develop an offensive in the southwestern direction.

On August 23, the Soviet fronts fought in order to close the encirclement and continue advancing on the external front. On the same day, the 18th Tank Corps reached the Khushi area, the 7th Mechanized Corps to the crossings of the Prut in the Leushen area, and the 4th Guards Mechanized Corps to Leovo. The 46th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front pushed the troops of the 3rd Romanian Army to the Black Sea, and it ceased resistance on August 24. On the same day, ships of the Danube military flotilla landed troops in Zhebriyany - Vilkovo. Also on August 24, the 5th Shock Army under the command of General N. E. Berzarin occupied Chisinau.

On August 24, the first stage of the strategic operation of two fronts was completed - breaking through the defense and encircling the Iasi-Kishinev group of German-Romanian troops. By the end of the day, Soviet troops had advanced 130-140 km. 18 divisions were surrounded. On August 24-26, the Red Army entered Leovo, Cahul, and Kotovsk. By August 26, the entire territory of Moldova was occupied by Soviet troops.
In the battles for the liberation of Moldova, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to more than 140 soldiers and commanders. Six Soviet soldiers became full holders of the Order of Glory: G. Alekseenko, A. Vinogradov, A. Gorskin, F. Dineev, A. Karasev and S. Skiba.
The lightning-fast and crushing defeat of the German-Romanian troops near Iasi and Chisinau aggravated the internal political situation in Romania to the limit. The regime of Ion Antonescu has lost all support in the country. Many senior government and military figures in Romania established contacts with opposition parties, anti-fascists, and communists at the end of July and began to discuss preparations for the uprising. The rapid development of events at the front accelerated the onset of the anti-government uprising, which broke out on August 23 in Bucharest. King Michael I took the side of the rebels and ordered the arrest of Antonescu and the pro-Nazi generals. A new government of Constantin Sănatescu was formed with the participation of National Tsaranists, National Liberals, Social Democrats and Communists.

The new government announced Romania's withdrawal from the war on the side of Germany, acceptance of the peace terms offered by the Allies, and demanded that German troops leave the country as soon as possible. The German command refused to comply with this demand and attempted to suppress the uprising. On the morning of August 24, German aircraft bombed Bucharest, and in the afternoon German troops went on the offensive.

The Soviet command sent 50 divisions and the main forces of both air armies deep into Romania to help the uprising, and 34 divisions were left to eliminate the encircled group. By the end of August 27, the group surrounded east of the Prut ceased to exist.
By August 28, that part of the German troops that managed to cross to the western bank of the Prut with the intention of breaking through to the Carpathian passes was also destroyed.
The offensive of Soviet troops on the external front grew increasingly stronger. The troops of the Second Ukrainian Front developed success towards Northern Transylvania and in the Focsani direction; on August 27 they occupied Focsani and reached the approaches to Ploesti and Bucharest. Units of the 46th Army of the Third Ukrainian Front, advancing south along both banks of the Danube, cut off the route of retreat for the defeated German troops to Bucharest.

The Black Sea Fleet and the Danube Military Flotilla facilitated the offensive of troops, landed troops, and carried out strikes with naval aviation. On August 28, the cities of Braila and Sulina were taken, and on August 29, the port of Constanta. On this day, the liquidation of the encircled enemy troops west of the Prut River was completed. This completed the Iasi-Chisinau operation.
The Iasi-Kishinev operation had a great influence on the further course of the war in the Balkans. During it, the main forces of Army Group “Southern Ukraine” were defeated, Romania was withdrawn from the war, and the Moldavian SSR and the Izmail region of the Ukrainian SSR were liberated. Although by the end of August most of Romania was still in the hands of the Germans and pro-Nazi Romanian forces, they were no longer able to organize powerful defensive lines in the country. On August 31, troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front entered Bucharest, occupied by Romanian rebels.

The Iasi-Chisinau operation entered the history of military art as the “Iasi-Chisinau Cannes”. It was characterized by a skillful choice of directions for the main attacks of the fronts, a high tempo of the offensive, rapid encirclement and liquidation of a large enemy group, and close interaction of all types of troops. Based on the results of the operation, 126 formations and units were awarded the honorary names of Chisinau, Iasi, Izmail, Foksani, Rymnik, Constance and others. During the operation, Soviet troops lost 12.5 thousand people, while German and Romanian troops lost 18 divisions. 208,600 German and Romanian soldiers and officers were captured.
Immediately after the completion of the Iasi-Kishinev operation, the post-war restoration of the economy of Moldova began, for which 448 million rubles were allocated from the USSR budget in 1944-45. The socialist transformations that began in 1940 and were interrupted by the Romanian invasion also continued. By September 19, 1944, units of the Red Army, with the help of the population, restored railway communications and bridges across the Dniester, blown up by the retreating German-Romanian troops. Industry was rebuilt. In 1944-45, equipment from 22 large enterprises arrived in Moldova. 226 collective farms in the left bank regions and 60 state farms were restored. The peasantry received, mainly from Russia, seed loans, cattle, horses, etc. However, the consequences of the war and drought, while maintaining the system of compulsory state grain procurements, led to mass starvation and a sharp increase in mortality.