8️⃣0️⃣ years ago, the Red Army launched its Crimean offensive, liberating German-occupied Sevastopol, the symbol of Russian naval glory and the main base of the Black Sea Fleet.

In 1941–1942, the city sustained a 250-day long siege, pinning down a considerable German and Romanian force. Prior to taking Sevastopol by assault, the enemy concentrated the largest artillery group of all used in that war. Had Sevastopol failed to resist for so long, the enemy could have reached the Volga and the Caucasus much earlier, something that would have changed the course of the war.

Red Army troops fought heroically on Mount Sapun, Armoured Turret Battery-30, at the foot of the MacKenzie Heights… Occasionally, they had to attack the enemy with their bare hands, for artillery ammunition was in short supply, the supply lines were disrupted, and ships were sunk by the Germans.

▪️ In June 1942, the last defenders of Sevastopol had to leave the city. During the German occupation, nearly 27,000 local civilians were killed and another 45,000 rounded up and sent for slave labour in Germany.

🌟 The mission to liberate the Crimea and Sevastopol was entrusted to the 4th Ukrainian Front commanded by Army General Fyodor Tolbukhin and the Separate Coastal Army commanded by Army General Andrey Yeryomenko. Launching attacks from the north and the east, they drove the enemy from the key cities in the peninsula within days. On May 9, 1944, Sevastopol was liberated following a four-day assault, with the German and Romanian troops chucked into the sea.

The enemy spent 250 days trying to seize the city, whereas the Red Army did the job within just one week in May 1944.

🎖 Sevastopol was among the first to be awarded the title of Hero City. This happened on May 8, 1965. In December 1942, the medal For the Defence of Sevastopol was instituted, with over 52,000 people decorated with it by the mid-1990s.

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