Second Jassy–Kishinev offensive
| Second Jassy–Kishinev offensive | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Eastern Front of World War II | |||||||||
Soviet advance | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Soviet Union Romania (24–29 August) Yugoslavia United States (Air support only) |
Romania (20–24 August) Germany | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Joseph Stalin Semyon Timoshenko Rodion Malinovsky Fyodor Tolbukhin Filipp Oktyabrsky Michael I Constantin Sănătescu Gheorghe Mihail Nicolae Macici |
Ion Antonescu Ilie Șteflea Petre Dumitrescu Ioan Mihail Racoviță Adolf Hitler Johannes Friessner Otto Wöhler Maximilian Fretter-Pico Alfred Gerstenberg | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| see below | see below | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
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Soviet Union: 1,314,200 16,000 guns 1,870 tanks 2,200 aircraft Romania: 465,659 |
Romania: 1,163,347 (as of 15 August 1944) 800 aircraft Germany: 250,000 (Army Group South Ukraine) | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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Soviet Union: 8,586 killed or wounded |
Romania: 25 aircraft Germany: 150,000 killed, wounded or captured | ||||||||
The second Jassy–Kishinev offensive, named after the two major cities, Jassy and Kishinev, in the staging area, was a Soviet offensive against Axis forces, which took place in Eastern Romania from 20 to 29 August 1944 during World War II. The 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts of the Red Army engaged Army Group South Ukraine, which consisted of combined German and Romanian formations, in an operation to reoccupy Bessarabia and destroy the Axis forces in the region, opening the way into Romania and the Balkans.
The offensive resulted in the encirclement and destruction of the German forces, allowing the Soviet Army to resume its strategic advance further into Eastern Europe. It also pressured Romania to switch allegiance from the Axis powers to the Allies. For the Germans, this was a massive defeat, which can be compared to the defeat at Stalingrad.