Vitebsk–Orsha offensive
| Vitebsk–Orsha offensive | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Operation Bagration | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Germany | Soviet Union | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Georg-Hans Reinhardt (Third Panzer Army) Kurt von Tippelskirch (Fourth Army) Alfons Hitter (206th Division) |
Ivan Bagramyan (1st Baltic Front) Ivan Chernyakhovsky (3rd Belorussian Front) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 165,000 men | 359,000 men | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
41,700 killed 126 tanks and assault guns destroyed 1,840 motor vehicles 17,800 taken prisoner |
11,014 killed 318 tanks destroyed 113 aircraft shot down | ||||||
The Vitebsk–Orsha offensive (Russian: Витебско-Оршанская наступательная операция) was part of the Belorussian strategic offensive of the Red Army in summer 1944, commonly known as Operation Bagration. During the offensive, Soviet troops captured Vitebsk and Orsha. A Soviet breakthrough during the offensive helped achieve the encirclement of German troops in the subsequent Minsk offensive.