Battle of Kiev (1943)

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Second Battle of Kiev
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Kiev after its liberation in November 1943.
Date 3–13 November 1943 (Offensive Operation) 13 November – 22 December 1943 (Defensive Operation) Location Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union Result Soviet victory Territorial changes Red Army breaks out of Dnieper bridgehead Axis forces expelled from Kiev
Belligerents
Soviet Union	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Nikolai Vatutin	Hermann Hoth Erhard Raus
Units involved
1st Ukrainian Front	4th Panzer Army
Strength
730,000 men[1] 7,000 guns and mortars 675 tanks and assault guns 700 combat aircraft	On 1 November 1943:[2] - 276,978 men in total
Casualties and losses
118,042 men[1] 28,141 killed, missing or captured 89,901 wounded or sick 271 tanks (3–13 November) 125 aircraft (3–13 November)	16,992 men[3] 2,628 killed 13,083 wounded 1,281 missing

The Second Battle of Kiev was a part of a much wider Soviet offensive in Ukraine known as the Battle of the Dnieper involving three strategic operations by the Soviet Red Army and one operational counterattack by the Wehrmacht, which took place between 3 November and 22 December 1943.

Following the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army launched the Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation, pushing Erich von Manstein's Army Group South back towards the Dnieper River. Stavka, the Soviet high command, ordered the Central Front and the Voronezh Front to force crossings of the Dnieper. When this was unsuccessful in October, the effort was handed over to the 1st Ukrainian Front, with some support from the 2nd Ukrainian Front. The 1st Ukrainian Front, commanded by Nikolai Vatutin, was able to secure bridgeheads north and south of Kiev.