Battle of Kiev (1941) - Battle

Battle

The Panzer armies made rapid progress. On September 12, Kleist's Panzergruppe 1, which had by now turned north and crossed the Dneiper River, emerged from its bridgeheads at Cherkassy and Kremenchug. Continuing north, it cut across the rear of Budyonny's forces. On September 16, it made contact with Guderian's Panzergruppe 2 advancing south at the town of Lokhvitsa, 120 miles behind Kiev. Budyonny was now trapped and soon relieved by Stalin's order of 13 September. No successor was named, leaving the troops to their individual corps and division commanders.

After that, the fate of the encircled Russian armies was sealed. With no mobile forces or supreme commander left, there was no possibility to effect a break out. The infantry of the German 17. Armee and 6. Armee of Army Group South soon arrived, along with 2nd Army (also on loan from Army Group Center and marching behind Guderian's tanks). They systematically began to reduce the pocket assisted by the two Panzer armies. The encircled Soviet armies at Kiev did not give up easily. A savage battle in which the Soviets were bombarded by artillery, tanks and aircraft had to be fought before the pocket was overcome. By 19 September, Kiev had fallen, but the encirclement battle continued. After 10 days of heavy fighting, the last remnants of troops east of Kiev surrendered on 26 September. The Germans claimed 600,000 Red Army soldiers captured, although these claims have included a large number of civilians suspected of evading capture. Hitler called it the greatest battle in history.