Operation Little Saturn

E20488

Operation Little Saturn was a major Soviet offensive in December 1942 aimed at exploiting the encirclement of German forces near Stalingrad by striking deeper into Axis rear areas and collapsing their southern front.


Statements (46)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Soviet military operation
military offensive
aim to collapse the southern wing of the German front
to exploit the encirclement of German forces at Stalingrad
to strike into Axis rear areas
alsoKnownAs Malyi Saturn
belligerent Soviet Union
commandedBy Filipp Golikov
Nikolai Vatutin
Rodion Malinovsky
conflict World War II
consequence German retreat from the Caucasus threatened
collapse of the Italian 8th Army
facilitated isolation of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad
severe losses for Axis satellite armies
weakening of German Army Group A position in the Caucasus
country Soviet Union
endDate 1943-02-06
involvedUnit Soviet Southwestern Front
Soviet Stalingrad Front
Soviet Voronezh Front
location Don River region
Eastern Front
Rostov-on-Don direction
Voronezh Front area
southwestern sector of the Soviet–German front
modificationReason German relief attempt toward Stalingrad (Operation Winter Storm)
opposedBy Hungary
Kingdom of Italy
Nazi Germany
Romania
originallyPlannedAs Operation Saturn
partOf Eastern Front of World War II
plannedBy Soviet Stavka
precededBy Operation Uranus
relatedTo Battle of Stalingrad
result Soviet victory
startDate 1942-12-16
strategy deep penetration of Axis rear and logistical lines
targetedUnit German Army Group Don
Hungarian 2nd Army
Italian 8th Army
Romanian forces on the Don
theater Southern sector of the Eastern Front
year 1942
1943


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