Dates 22 Jun 1941 – 9 Jul 1941 | Combatants Soviet Union, Germany | |
 | ||
655,000, 7,673 guns and mortars, 1,389 tanks, 1,070 aircraft 498,000, 5,573 guns and mortars, 1,393 tanks, 1,210 aircraft n/a Total 88,486
Killed 75,202
Wounded 13,284
Destroyed 2,523 tanks and SPGs, 990 aircraft Result Successful German Offensive Similar Eastern Front, World War II, Leningrad Strategic Defensive, Operation München, Battle of Białystok–Minsk | ||
Gruppchef i baltic operations
The Baltic Operation, also known as the Defensive operation in Lithuania and Latvia encompassed the operations of the Red Army from 22 June to 9 July 1941 conducted over the territories of the occupied Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in response to an offensive launched by the German army.
Contents
Operational parts
The operation consisted of three distinct smaller operations
Border Defensive Battles (22–24 June 1941) Šiauliai Counter-Offensive Operation (24–27 June 1941) Defense of the Hanko Naval Base (22 June–2 December 1941)Execution
The principal Red Army formations of the operation were the Northwestern Front and the Baltic Fleet, with the major ground forces consisting of the 8th (commander General Major P.P. Sobennikov), 11th (commander General Lieutenant Morozov) and later 27th Armies.
The operation was conducted after the forces of the Baltic Special Military District were alerted in the morning of 22 June 1941 following a surprise attack by the German Wehrmacht's Army Group North which consisted of the 18th, 16th Field Armies and the 4th Panzer Group, and elements of the 3rd Panzer Group, supported by the Luftflotte 1.
On 22 June, the Soviet 8th Army was positioned in northern Lithuania opposed by the German 18th Army. The Soviet 11th Army defended the rest of the Lithuanian border with East Prussia and sought to contain the attacks of the German 16th Army and the 4th Panzer Group.
While the Soviet 8th Army retreated along the Jelgava–Riga–Tartu–Narva–Pskov direction, the Soviet 11th Army sought to initially hold the Kaunas–Vilnius sector of the front, but was forced to retreat along the Daugavpils–Pskov–Novgorod direction. These withdrawals, although costly in losses of personnel and materiel, avoided major encirclements experienced by the Fronts to the south, and succeeded in delaying the Army Group North sufficiently to allow preparation for the defence of Leningrad.
The operation was not a single continuous withdrawal, but was punctuated by short-lived counterattacks, counterstrokes or counteroffensives.
Subordinate Red Army formations
The subordinate formations and units of the Armies were:
Front Subordination
Consequences
The Soviet forces were defeated and forced to fall back. The next operation, according to the Soviet official history, was the Leningrad Strategic Defensive Operation (10 July-30 September 1941) which attempted to establish a stable front along the Narva–Novgorod line.