MAJOR EVENTS ON THE EASTERN FRONT

June 22, 1941	Germans launch three-pronged attack on Russia; more than 3 million soldiers and 3,300 tanks cross Russian border; Luftwaffe (German air force) destroys more than 2,000 Russian air force planes.
June 1941	Germans take Minsk and Smolensk (on direct route to Moscow).
September 1941	Kiev falls to the Germans; 650,000 Russian soldiers captured.
November–December 1941	Germans push toward Moscow, come to within 32 kilometers of city before being delayed by order from Hitler.
January 1942	Russians retake Kiev.
May 1942	240,000 Russians captured at Kharkov, in the eastern Ukraine.
August 1942–February 1943	Battle of Stalingrad; bloodiest battle in history, with more than 1.5 million casualties; tide turns in the war.
July 1943	Largest tank battle in history at Kursk, with about 2,700 German and 4,000 Russian tanks in action; Russians mount counteroffensive, driving German armies back toward their border.
December 1943–July 1944	Battles for control of the Ukraine intensify. • Georg Rauch arrives at front in battle near Znamenka, 240 kilometers southeast of Kiev, December 5. • Eight-day battle at Marianovka, south of Kiev, starting December 15. • Rout of Germans at Pervomaysk, on the river Bug, March 22. • River Dniester crossing and return to front lines, followed by period of quiet, April–July.
June–August 1944	German Army Group Center and German Army Group South destroyed in the Ukraine.
July 1944	Siege on Leningrad lifted; German Army Group North cut off in Baltic.
August 1944	Romania defeated, becomes Russian ally.
	• Georg Rauch receives Iron Cross following attack, mid-August. • Georg Rauch captured following second Russian attack, August 23.
May 7, 1945	Germany surrenders.