Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev

Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev (Russian: Полководец Румянцев literally: "Regiment leader Rumyantsev", after 18th-century Field Marshal Peter Rumyantsev) was a code name for the Belgorod-Kharkov Strategic Offensive Operation conducted by the Red Army between 3 August 1943 and 23 August 1943 against the Wehrmacht's 4th Panzer Army and Army Group Kempf during World War II. The operation was conducted by the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts in the Belgorod (southern) sector of the Kursk Bulge. In one German source by Wilhelm Keitel this operation is referred to as the "Fourth Battle of Kharkov" although it is unrelated to the Third Battle of Kharkov.

The operation began in early hours of 3 August 1943, with the objective of following up the defensive success against German Army Group South's northern flank during the failed Operation Citadel. The operation was immediately successful, pushing back the German defenders and liberating Belgorod and Kharkov. By 12:00 in the morning of August 23, 1943 the Soviet divisions of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts had successfully seized the city from German forces, annihilating most of the defending forces. It was the last time that Kharkov changed hands during the Soviet-German War. The operation led to the retreat of the German forces in Ukraine behind the Dnepr River, and it set the stage for the battle of Kiev in autumn 1943.