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📆 80 years ago, on 29 October 1944, the Budapest Offensive was launched by the Red Army during #WW2, aimed at defeating Nazi forces in Hungary and forcing the country out of the war.

Hitler was determined to hold the Hungarian capital at any cost. He attached great importance to Nagykanizsa oil-producing area claiming he would rather surrender Berlin than lose Hungarian oil and Austria.

⚔️ Already by 2 November 1944, having crossed the Danube, Soviet troops approached Budapest. The Red Army successfully repelled a series of Nazi counterattacks at Balaton lake and encircled the city on 26 December 1944.

☝️ Soviet ultimatum to surrender in order to prevent bloodshed was ignored, with Soviet negotiators killed, which left the Red Army no other choice but assault.

⚔️ The takeover of Budapest entailed heavy fighting. The Red Army used a minimum of tanks engaging assault units supported by artillery instead. By 13 February 1944, persistent battles culminated with the capture of the city garrison led by General Karl-Pfeffer Wildenbruch.

🌟 During the Budapest Offensive the Red Army defeated 56 enemy’s divisions with 188.000 soldiers and officers taken prisoners-of-war.

Some 70.000 Jewish prisoners were freed from the Budapest Ghetto. The whole southern flank of the Soviet-German front collapsed forcing Nazis to redeploy additional troops to the south.

The Red Army’s way to Prague and Vienna was opened.

#WWII #WeRemember #Victory79
📆 #OTD in 1941, the Battle of Moscow commenced – one of the biggest battles in the history of the Great Patriotic War.

Ordinary Muscovites and students of military schools stood up to defend the city alongside Red Army soldiers. No other capital resisted Hitler's advance so fiercely.

⚔️ Nazi Germany and its allies planned to defeat the USSR in accordance with the Barbarossa Plan, which aimed to inflict a crushing defeat on the Red Army within a few months using blitzkrieg tactics. According to Barbarossa Plan, Moscow was to be captured by the 40th day after the invasion, with three to four months allotted for the complete elimination of resistance in the occupied Soviet territories.

▪️ By the end of September 1941, the Nazi forces occupied the Baltics, Belarus, Moldavia and a substantial part of Soviet Ukraine, besieged Leningrad and approached Moscow.

☝️ Given the strategic and political importance of the Soviet capital, Hitler committed significant forces to assault: 1.8 million troops, 1,700 tanks, and around 1,000 aircraft.

▪️ Under those circumstances, the State Defence Committee declared a state of siege in Moscow and adjacent areas that had not been captured by the enemy. Intense preparations for street fighting began, and the most important government and industrial facilities were mined.

Hitler’s plan envisaged the capture of Moscow within the first three to four months and the complete destruction of its population. The selfless resistance of the Red Army units, militia and cadets prevented these plans from coming to life. The Soviet forces held back around twenty German divisions in fierce battles that raged for two weeks, which made it possible to reinforce the defence line and move the reserves to Moscow.

In early December, when the Wehrmacht forces were largely depleted, the Red Army was able to launch a counteroffensive, rout the assault units of the Army Group Centre and remove the threat hanging over the capital.

❗️ The success of the Soviet forces in the Battle of Moscow shattered the myth of the Third Reich’s invincibility, foiled Nazi blitzkrieg plans, and deterred the Japanese government, which was already preparing troops to invade the Soviet Union, from joining the war on Germany’s side. This marked Hitler’s first major defeat in World War II.

#BattleOfMoscow #WeRemember #Victory79 #WWII #WW2
#OTD in 1942, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) was formed, a nationalist & collaborationist organization controlled by Nazi Germany.

🟥 The UPA is remembered alongside Gestapo for mass murders of Polish, Jewish and Ukrainian population. Dozens of thousands people, predominantly civilians, perished at the hands of UPA militants as evidenced by numerous remaining documents.

The UPA is responsible for the Volyn Massacre of 1943-1945 – mass murders of the population of Polish ethnicity in Western Ukraine during which some 50,000 – 60,000 Poles were shot, burnt and beheaded.

In the present-day Ukraine, the date of foundation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army is established as a state holiday – Defender of Ukraine Day, while the UPA leaders Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevich are praised as national heroes. This is all you need to know about the current political regime in Ukraine.

#WW2 #WWII #InconvenientTruth #WeRemember
📆 #OTD 80 years ago the Red Army troops and the National Liberation Army of #Yugoslavia liberated Belgrade from Nazis during the #Belgrade Strategic Offensive.

In September 1944, USSR and Yugoslavia agreed on the entry of Soviet troops in Belgrade and joint actions against Hitlerites.

⚔️ As part of the operation, in October 1944 allied forces breached enemy’s defence in Serbian Carpathians, encircled and defeated the main forces of the German Army Group “Serbia”.

🌟 On 20 October 1944, liberation of north-eastern & eastern parts of Yugoslavia as well as the capital itself was completed.

❗️ Enemy's losses amounted up to 45000 dead & captured prisoners-of-war. The success of the offensive made it possible for the Liberation Army to purge the rest Yugoslavia from the Nazis on its own.

#WW2 #WWII #WeRemember #Victory79
📆 81 years ago, during World War II, Nazis liquidated the Minsk Ghetto, one of the largest in German-occupied Belorussia housing some 100,000 Jews

The ghetto was created soon after the capture of Minsk in June 1941.

▪️Essentially, three camps were created in Minsk: the “big” ghetto encompassing 39 streets and lanes, the “small” one in the area of the Molotov Plant and the so-called “Sonderghetto” where Jews from other European countries were placed.

▪️The Minsk Ghetto was notable for its large scale resistance organization, which cooperated closely with Soviet partisans.

▪️On 21 October 1943, all the residents of the Minsk Ghetto were executed. There were only 13 survivors who hid in a house cellar and were freed after the liberation of Minsk by the Red Army in July 1944.

#WW2 #WWII #WeRemember #NeverForget
📆 80 years ago, on 29 October 1944, the Budapest Offensive was launched by the Red Army during #WW2, aimed at defeating #Nazi forces in Hungary and forcing the country out of the war.

Hitler was determined to hold the Hungarian capital at any cost. He attached great importance to Nagykanizsa oil-producing area claiming he would rather surrender Berlin than lose Hungarian oil and Austria.

⚔️ Already by 2 November 1944, having crossed the Danube, Soviet troops approached Budapest. The Red Army successfully repelled a series of Nazi counterattacks at Balaton lake and encircled the city on 26 December 1944.

Soviet ultimatum to surrender in order to prevent bloodshed was ignored, with Soviet negotiators killed, which left the Red Army no other choice but assault.

⚔️ The takeover of Budapest entailed heavy fighting. The Red Army used a minimum of tanks engaging assault units supported by artillery instead. By 13 February 1944, persistent battles culminated with the capture of the city garrison led by General Karl-Pfeffer Wildenbruch.

❗️During the Budapest Offensive the Red Army defeated 56 enemy’s divisions with 188.000 soldiers and officers taken prisoners-of-war.

Some 70.000 Jewish prisoners were freed from the Budapest Ghetto. The whole southern flank of the Soviet-German front collapsed forcing Nazis to redeploy additional troops to the south.

☝️ The Red Army’s way to Prague and Vienna was opened.

#WWII #WeRemember #Victory80
🗓Today marks the Day of Military Honour of Russia. #OTD 83 years ago, the historic military parade was held on the Red Square in the face of the Nazis advance to Moscow, when the front line was only a few dozen kilometres away from the city.

The march involved some 28,500 servicemen, as well as 140 artillery pieces, 160 tanks, and 232 vehicles.

This event boosted the morale of Soviet soldiers throughout the Soviet Union. It showed the world how truly unbreakable the spirit of the Soviet people was. The participants of the parade went directly to the front after it.

A month later, the “invincible” Wehrmacht suffered its first major defeat, and Hitler’s ambitious blitzkrieg plan against the Soviet Union was thwarted.

#WW2 #WWII #Victory79
📆 83 years ago, when #Nazi forces were in the close vicinity of #Moscow, a legendary fight at Dubosekovo railroad station took place which went down in history as the feat of the 28 Panfilov’s men.

On 16 Nov 1941, Nazis launched a new assault on the #Soviet capital expecting to bring the blitzkrieg to a victorious conclusion by the end of the year. In the morning that day, after a preliminary artillery shelling the Wehrmacht’s 2nd Tank Division attacked the units of the Red Army’s 316th Rifle Division led by Major General Ivan Panfilov.

The 4th and the 6th companies of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th regiment took the brunt of Nazi offensive. Having ran short of ammunition, both companies showed unparalleled courage against superior enemy’s forces and repelled several tank attacks with remaining grenades and Molotov cocktails. The Panfilov’s men withstood the Nazi onslaught for 4 hours while the reserves came to cover the capital.

☝️ During the battle, 18 German tanks were destroyed, but almost all Soviet defenders laid down their lives.

🌟 It was during the battle of Dubosekovo that the commander of the 4th company V.Klochkov said the legendary phrase “Russia is vast, yet there’s nowhere to retreat – Moscow is behind us”.

#WW2 #WWII #Victory79
📆 82 years ago, #OTD in 1942, a Soviet-French agreement was signed on the formation of the Normandie-Niemen Fighter Regiment on the territory of USSR which became extremely popular with Soviet people.

It was General de Gaulle, commander of the French resistance, who hatched the idea to send French pilots to the Russian front. The initiative was approved by the Soviet government.

🛫 The squadron became operational in March 1943, initially with 14 pilots and 47 mechanics in its ranks, but soon expanded and turned into a regiment.

French pilots completed more than 5,000 missions and shot down at least 273 German fighters. Out of the group’s initial makeup only three pilots survived.

🌟 Overall, about a hundred Frenchmen fought in the Normandie-Niemen regiment, 4 of them became Heroes of the Soviet Union – a rare honour for foreigners at that time.

#WW2 #WWII #WeRemember #Victory79 #FacesofVictory
📆 81 years ago, #OTD in 1943 the Tehran Conference codenamed “Eureka” kicked off, the first meeting of the “Big Three” leaders Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill during #WW2.

It was held at the Soviet Embassy in Persia.

The most notable outcome of the Conference was the agreement on opening a second front in western Europe against #Nazi Germany in May 1944. At the same time USSR would launch another major offensive on the Eastern Front that would divert German troops away from the Allied campaign in northern France.

J.Stalin agreed in principle that the Soviet Union would declare war against Japan following an Allied victory over Germany.

❗️ At Tehran, the three Allied leaders also discussed important issues of the post-war period concerning future Polish borders, fate of the Baltic republics, formation of the United Nations organization.

#WW2 #WWII #WeRemember #Stalin #Roosevelt #Churchill #TehranConference
🌟 Today marks 80 years since the death of Dmitry Karbyshev, the Soviet military commander known as “the General of Steel,” who became a symbol of courage and perseverance during #WW2.

He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

⚔️ Karbyshev fought in the wars with Japan and participated in #WW1 from its very start. In January 1918, he joined the Red Army. He authored approximately 100 books and articles on engineering support for combat operations and military strategy, and developed a classification system for obstacles.

⚔️ At the onset of #WWII, Dmitry Karbyshev was surrounded by enemy forces, sustained a concussion, and was taken prisoner. He spent 3.5 years in concentration camps, including Zamosc, Hammelburg, Flossenbürg, Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Sachsenhausen.

Despite enduring horrendous conditions, he remained a man of unyielding will and determination until his final days.

🕯 In February 1945, just 2.5 months before victory, he was tortured to death by Nazis, along with dozens of other Soviet patriots. The fascists poured icy water over the prisoners while forcing them to stand in freezing cold.

#WeRemember #Victory80 #FacesOfVictory
🎙 Excerpts from the Statement by Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at the United Nations Dmitry Chumakov at a briefing by the #G20 Sherpa of South Africa H.E. Mr. Zane Dangor.

We are committed to contributing to the success of the South African presidency in #G20. We share the priorities and themes outlined by Pretoria. We will do everything we can to help achieve productive results and convincing final agreements in the relevant areas, in particular in the interests of Africa, strengthening the foundations of multilateralism and reaffirming the central role of the #UN.

👉 We are working hard on promotion of the image of the #G20 in our country. A series of events on the Business 20, the Women 20 and the Civil Society 20 are planned for the upcoming St. Peterburg International Economic Forum in June. One of the sessions will be devoted to the topic of "Civil Society 20 on the Lessons of World War II".

#G20 #SouthAfrica #UN #WWII
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
#Victory80

🌟 In the early hours of May 1, 1945, the #VictoryBanner was raised atop the Reichstag during the Battle of Berlin. It became a symbol of the triumph of the Soviet Union & its peoples in the fight against Nazism.

The legendary Red Banner №5, which became the famous Victory Banner, was raised over the dome of the defeated Reichstag by the 756th Rifle Regiment’s scouts, Sergeant Mikhail Yegorov & Junior Sergeant Meliton Kantariya.

Before the assault, a decision was made for a group of Soviet soldiers to hoist the flag over the Reichstag, which would embody the final collapse of Nazism.

🚩 A total of 9 makeshift banners were promptly made, designed after the state flag of the USSR. Ultimately, a battle flag of the 150th Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class Idritsa Rifle Division, 79th Rifle Corps, 3rd Striking Army of the 1st Belarusian Front, became the Victory Banner.

On April 29, the fierce fighting for the Reichstag began, which the Nazis had turned into a fortified point of resistance. It was defended by over a thousand men, including SS troops supported by artillery and armor.

The Reichstag was of special symbolic importance to the Nazi Germany. The Germans considered it their main fortress during the final days of #WWII. The Soviet command was sure that the storming of that citadel, which was a symbol of German Nazism, would especially affect morale of the enemy and eventually completely demoralize the fascists.

⚔️ On April 30 at 1:50 p.m., a Red Army unit broke into the Reichstag through breaches in the walls, with a fierce close combat unleashing. The Nazis took advantage of effectively advancing inside the building they new well, throwing grenades at Soviet soldiers & firing back with machine-guns: they basically had nothing to lose.

⏱️ At 2.25 p.m., Red Army soldiers Bulatov and Koshkarbayev placed a makeshift red flag to the column of the main entrance to the Reichstag — it was the first of the banners the liberators raised over the Reichstag.

⏱️ At 10.30 p.m., staff sergeants Gizet Zagitov, Alexander Lisimenko & Alexey Bobrov as well as Sergeant Mikhail Minin supported by Captain Neustroyev’s battalion were the 1st to hoist a red banner on the roof of the Reichstag atop of the Goddess of Victory sculpture. The 3rd red banner was raised on the western facade of the roof by the scouts of the 674th Regiment led by Lieutenant Sorokin.

⏱️ In the early hours of May 1, finally, the Red Banner №5 was raised over the dome of the captured Reichstag by the 756th Rifle Regiment’s scouts, Sergeant Mikhail Yegorov & Junior Sergeant Meliton Kantariya, led by deputy battalion commander Lieutenant Alexey Berest, covered by riflemen from Ilya Syanov's squad. That flag ultimately became the Victory Banner.

📃 By a Presidential Executive Order of April 15, 1996, the Red Banner hoisted atop of the Reichstag by Yegorov & Kantariya was declared the symbol of the Soviet people’s Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

#WeAreProud
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