75 Years Ago… the Counterattack at Moscow Began

5 December: The Day of the Beginning of the Counteroffensive by the Soviet Forces in the Battle of Moscow

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On this day in Russia, 5 December, we mark a “Day of Military Glory of Russia”; the counterattack by Soviet troops at the Battle of Moscow began on this day. The counterattack, the second phase of the battle of Moscow, started on 5-6 December 1941, with the Kalinin Front hitting Yeltsa. The fighting immediately became bitter and furious. In the early days of the offensive, despite a lack of superiority in manpower and equipment, and despite below-zero temperatures and deep snow cover, the troops on the left-wing and right-wing of the Western Front smashed the fascist defences south of Kalinin, cut highway and rail links to Kalinin, and liberated many towns from the enemy. Simultaneously, troops of the Southwestern Front attacked northwest of Moscow. The Red Army hit the flanks of the fascist Army Group Centre grouped around Moscow, forcing the enemy to regroup and to take measures to save its troops from a débâcle.

On 8 December, Hitler signed a directive to transition to the defence all along the Soviet-German front. Army Group Centre received orders “to retain strategically important areas at any cost”. On 9 December, the Soviet troops liberated Rogachevo, Venev, and Yelets. On 11 December, they freed Stalinogorsk, on 12 December, they cleared Solnechnogorsk, on 13 December, they liberated Yefremov, on 15 December, they entered Klin, on 16 December, they took Kalinin, and 20 December, they occupied Volokolamsk. On 25 December, on a broad front, Soviet troops advanced to Oka. On 28 December, they liberated Kozelsk, on 30 December, they took Kaluga, and in early January 1942, they freed Meshchovsk and Mosalsk.

By the beginning of January 1942, the armies of the right-wing of the Western Front reached the banks of the Lama and Ruza Rivers. By that time, the troops of the Kalinin Front reached Pavlikovo and Staritsa. The troops of the Western Front, in the centre, liberated Naro-Fominsk on 26 December, they freed Maloyaroslavets on 2 January, and entered Borovsk on 4 January. There were also successful counterattacks on the left-wing of the Western Front and by the Bryansk Front (re-established on 18 December 1941, with the 3, 13 and 61 Armies; commanded by General Ya T Cherevichenko, A F Kolobyakov as head commissar, and Major General V Ya Kolpakchy as Chief of Staff). By early January 1942, the Bryansk Front, cooperating with the forces of the left-wing of the Western Front, reached Belev, Mtsensk, and Verkhovye. All this has created a serious situation for the fascist Army Group Centre; it removed the threat looming over Moscow.

The victory of the Soviet troops near Moscow and the beginning of the counteroffensive not only had great military significance, it also had political and international Importance. For the first time in World War II, someone stopped the hitherto-invincible Wehrmacht and defeated it. Today, the date of 5 December is another reason to remember the heroes of that war…

5 December 2016

Russia-Российская Федерация

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20 November 2016. A Photo Essay: Russia Remembered and Marked 7 November…

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On 7 November, a re-enactment of the 7 November 1941 October Revolution parade took place in Moscow. For all intents and purposes, it celebrated the USSR and its victory over the fascists in the VOV. Most working-class Russians are for a return to the USSR and its values… at the same time, many are practising Orthodox Christians. The Church seems to prefer honest Soviet values over corrupt Western “values”; the commies have dropped all opposition to religious faith and practise. The atheists in Russia are the Westward-leaning bourgeois… the believers are socialist workers.

Fancy that. The Church and Party are on the same page… the Westernisers and irreligion are on the same page. I can see why people want the USSR back… they’re tired of the corrupt non-values of the West and its Russian lapdogs. If I were in Russia, I’d vote for the KPRF gladly. Reflect on this… the commies are the faction closest to the Church… what does that tell you about the rebels in the diaspora who want to ally the Church with godless anti-Church rightwing forces? I’d advise to think well on that…

BMD

7 November 2013. A Picture IS Worth a Thousand Words… It’s NOT 1941… It’s 2013!

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In what’s turning into an annual tradition, there was a reenactment of the 7 November 1941 Red October Parade on Red Square. In the original parade, the elements marching in it went straight from the parade to the front outside Moscow. I honour ALL of our history… those like Potapov who disparage parts of it are filthy traitors, sellouts to rootless Western greed (he was/is a Langley propagandist at Radio Liberty… do note that when you read his rants). Do bite the coin… there be counterfeits in circulation.

BMD 

 

Patriarch Kirill Urged People Not To Follow Populist Demagogues

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Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias urged Russians not to believe those who promise to build a new world on the ruins of the old one. After the end of a parade with more than a thousand participants at Poklonnaya Gora after a Liturgy served at St George the all-Victorious Church on the eve of Victory Day and on the feast of St George, he said, “We, Orthodox people, as defenders of the Motherland mustn’t succumb to the temptation of alluring, empty, loud, and useless words, whose only purpose is to divide us, destroy our heritage, and build something new… but what… nobody knows. They tell us that the new world will be beautiful, but why do they seduce our people, encouraging everybody to rip things down to the foundations to build a happy new world? Yet, we know from historical experience that such calls turn into terrible conflicts, attacking the verities of our ancestors, parents, and people”.

Before this speech, His Holiness preached a homily after liturgy in the church, pointing up that feast day of St George, 6 May, was at the end of the Great Patriotic War, emphasising, “The power of the Orthodox Faith has always underpinned the heroism of the Russian people. When a terrible enemy attacked our motherland, there wasn’t any talk of compromise. It would seem that our country’s position was irrational in terms of objective reality… the enemy was at the gates of the capital, the foe exceeded the capabilities of our army and the entire country by a wide margin; they were better armed, the military leaders who led their terrible hordes had much experience of modern warfare, and they had iron discipline. However, nothing could stop the people, who didn’t compromise with evil, even at the most terrible times. Doubtlessly, God’s dispensation aided the heroism of our people; it was incomparable, for they repulsed the enemy from the gates of Moscow”. In his view, the people “prayed to St George fervently, it was no coincidence”, and it wasn’t chance that the Soviet Army Guards ribbons had the ribbon of the Order of St George the all-Victorious, because people understood that “St George was the foremost victor over evil in human history”.

6 May 2012

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=45425