Document announced at the Legislative Assembly of the Western Ukrainian lands, convened by members of the OUN (b) / OUN (r) headed by Yaroslav Stetsko on the evening of June 30, 1941 in Lvov, after the first units of the Wehrmacht entered it in the morning of the same day with the support of members of the OUN marching groups and soldiers of the Nachtigall Battalion.

This document proclaimed the creation of a "new Ukrainian state on the mother Ukrainian lands", which "will closely cooperate with the National Socialist Great Germany under the leadership of leader Adolf Hitler, creating a new order in Europe and the whole world." The document also stated the ongoing formation of the Ukrainian National Revolutionary Army, which "is being created on Ukrainian soil, will continue to fight together with the allied German army against the Moscow occupation for the Sovereign Collective Ukrainian State and a new order throughout the world."

background

Welcome banner of the OUN (b) July - early September 1941 at the Glinsky Gates of the castle in the city of Zhovkva, Lviv region. Text (from top to bottom) - “Glory to Hitler! Glory to Bandera! Long live the independent Ukrainian conciliar Power! Long live Chief St. Bandera! Glory to Hitler! Glory to the invincible German and Ukrainian armed forces! Glory to Bandera!

On the same day, Halder noted in his diary - "An appeal has been received to Western Ukraine" (this appeal spoke about plans for the creation by the Germans of an "independent state" on the territory of Western Ukraine).

On September 12, 1939, questions regarding Poland and the ethnic Ukrainian population of Poland were discussed at a special meeting on Hitler's train. According to Hitler's plans, on the border with the USSR it was necessary to create "laying states" between "Asia" and the "West", loyal to the Third Reich: Ukraine (on the territory of Galicia and Volyn), a Polish quasi-state in the center, and Lithuania - in the north.

At the same time, the OUN (b) / OUN (r), together with the Abwehr, intensified the transfer of their armed militants to the Ukrainian SSR. An instruction "Struggle and activities of the OUN during the war" was developed, which indicated the tasks and activities for "state building" .

On June 16, 1941, the OUN (b) / OUN (r) prepared and handed over to the German structures a Memorandum regarding the "Ukrainian-German alliance, the basis of which should be the Ukrainian state, which will become a guard in the East" . The Nazis originally planned for the emergence of such an "independent state", as follows from Rosenberg's memorandum entitled "General instructions to all representatives of the Reich in the occupied Eastern territories", which stated that "Ukraine should become an independent state in alliance with Germany" . In his speech of June 20, he already mentioned the possibility of forming the Ukrainian State.

On the morning of June 30, 1941, units of the 1st mountain division of the Wehrmacht, as well as the Nachtigal battalion, together with units of the 1st battalion of the Abwehr regiment Brandenburg-800, entered Lviv, which was abandoned by Soviet troops on June 26, 1941, and took control a radio station and a number of key facilities in the city.

Text of the Act (translated into Russian)

Act of Proclamation of the Ukrainian State

1. By the will of the Ukrainian people, the Organization of Nationalists under the leadership of Stepan BANDERA proclaims the creation of the Ukrainian State, for which entire generations of the best sons of Ukraine laid their heads.

The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, which, under the leadership of its Creator and Leader Yevhen KONOVALTS, waged a stubborn struggle for freedom in the last decades of the bloody Moscow-Bolshevik enslavement, calls on the entire Ukrainian people not to lay down their arms until the Sovereign Ukrainian Power is created on all Ukrainian lands.

Sovereign Ukrainian Power will provide the Ukrainian people with peace and order, comprehensive development all his strength and the satisfaction of all his needs.

2. On the western lands of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Power is being created, which will submit to the Ukrainian National Government that will be created in the capital of Ukraine - Kyiv.

3. The resurgent Ukrainian State will work closely with the National Socialist Great Germany, which, under the leadership of its Leader Adolf HITLER, creates a new order in Europe and in the world and helps the Ukrainian People to free themselves from Moscow occupation.

The Ukrainian National Revolutionary Army, which is being created on Ukrainian soil, will continue to fight with the ALLIED GERMAN ARMY against the Moscow occupation for a Sovereign Cathedral State and a new order throughout the world.

Long live the Sovereign Cathedral Ukrainian State! Long live the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists! Long live the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian People STEPAN BANDERA!

Original text (ukr.)

Voting act of the Ukrainian State

1. By the will of the Ukrainian people, the Organization of Nationalists, led by Stepan BANDERY, will vote for the creation of the Ukrainian State, for the yak, the heads of the generation of the greatest blues of Ukraine laid their heads.

Organіzatsіya Ukraїnskіh Natsіonalіstіv, yak pid wire її Creator i Leader Єvgena Konovaltsev led to ostannіh desyatilіttyah krivavogo Maskovskiy-bіlshovitskogo ponevolennya inveterate Borotba freedom, vzivaє uves ukrainian people do not sklasti zbroї so Dovgy, docks at vsіh of Ukrainian lands did not bude target sovereign Ukraїnska Vlad.

Sovereign Ukrainian Vlad to sing to the Ukrainian people the harmony and order, the comprehensive development of all strengths and calmness of all needs.

2. On the western lands of Ukraine, Ukrainian Vlad is going on, as if ordering the Ukrainian National Order, what is going on in the capital of Ukraine - KYIV.

3. Novopovstyuchu Українська Страва в тісно повівпрациватий з Нціоноло сторіалістая житовое німеччиноююю и от и під під повить воль вигольна подольфи ГТЛєРє воті в товоповага Увопі ітіті проводагає Українскосску Оки Окпаціна Окпації.

The Ukrainian National Revolutionary Army, what is going on in the Ukrainian land, fights further with the ALLIED NIMEC ARMY against the Moscow occupation for the Sovereign Cathedral Power and a new way in the whole world.

Long live the Ukrainian Sovereign Cathedral Power! Long live the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists! Long live the conductor of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian People - STEPAN BANDERA!

GLORY TO UKRAINE!

Various versions of the "Act"

In the version of the Act published on July 10, 1941 in the newspaper "Zhovkivsky visti" the text ends with the phrases "Glory to the heroic German Army and its Fuhrer Adolf Hitler", "Ukraine for Ukrainians" [ ] . In the version of the Act, transferred by order of Yaroslav Stetsk "to the lands of eastern Ukraine", the Act was named "Act of the restoration of the Ukrainian state after 23 years of captivity", and the word "creation" in the text was replaced by "restoration". The name of the meeting that hosted it was also changed - they are referred to in the document as “national gatherings of Ukrainians”.

In the post-war publications of the OUN (b) / OUN (r) / and its supporters, the first paragraph of paragraph 3 disappears from the text of the "Act", the second paragraph of this paragraph is deprived of the "allied German army", and the text itself is submitted in the version prepared by Y. Stetsko for "Eastern Ukrainian lands", but without mentioning the "leader of Bandera".

Reaction

Bandera was kept under arrest until July 14, 1941, in the fall he was transferred to house arrest. Stetsko moved on July 9, 1941 to Berlin, where he was engaged in sending memorandums to various German authorities. In January 1942, Bandera was sent to a special prison for politicians at Zellenbau at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, in September 1944 he was released. His two brothers - Oleksandr and Vasily - died in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, as did some other members of the Ukrainian government. Nevertheless, it was not possible to liquidate the Ukrainian nationalist movement; in response to the arrests, it went underground and continued to fight. In late 1942 - early 1943, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and its Main Military Headquarters were created.

see also

Notes

1. Act of proclamation of the Ukrainian State // Newspaper "Samostiyna Ukraina" - Stanislavov, July 10, 1941.
2. Berkhoff K. C. and Carynnyk M. The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and Its Attitude towards Germans and Jews: Iaroslav Stets’ko’s 1941 Zhyttiepys - Harvard: Harvard Ukrainian Studies, 1999. - Vol. 23. - no. 3/4. - pp. 149-184.
3. Patrylyak I. TO. Viyskova activity of the OUN(B) in 1940−1942. - Kiev, 2004.
4. , Kentii A.V. Sec. 2. The transition of the OUN (b) to anti-German positions (1941-1942). .
5. , September 9-10, 1939. .
6. , Note 311. .
7. Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression Office of the United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality Nuremberg, Germany (1945-1946) Vol.V, p. 766-772 "I would have to make to make such preparations with the Ukrainians… a revolt can be incited trough… OUN which would aim at the destruction of the Poles and Jews"
8. International Military Tribunal in Nürnberg, "Blue Series" vol 3., p. 21 (English) (excerpts from minutes

IA REX expert Lev Vershinin comments on the publication of Miroslava Berdnik

Expert, writer and publicist Miroslava Berdnik notes in his blog that one of the cornerstones of modern Bandera historiography is the myth that the act of June 30, 1941 was proclaimed in secret from the Germans, which caused subsequent repressions against Bandera and some other leaders of the OUN-B. "In fact, the act of June 30, 1941 - was being prepared BEFORE the start of the war - in Krakow, not only with the knowledge of the Germans, but also with their active participation, was (for the Germans) an ordinary banal propaganda document, from which Bandera later inflated " I am posting a fragment of a document that is stopped in all Litopys of the UPA published in the West - the protocol of the interrogation of the commander of the UPA group formation Yu.A. G.

Question: state subsequent events.

Answer: At the end of the reconnaissance courses, among 25 of their former students, I received a two-day vacation for rest, but without the right to leave the camp area.
Two days later - it was June 8, 1941 - we were all seated on a bus and, accompanied by STEL, went to Krakow, where he placed us in an empty apartment on the ground floor of house No. 11 on the street. Vzhesnev. Until June 13, 1941, we rested there without going outside, as STELEH had been strictly warned about this, and then we were visited by one of the members of the Bandera central wire of the OUN, who did not give his pseudonym or his last name. He told us that in the next few days a military attack on the Soviet Union by Germany would be carried out, for which the latter had carefully prepared, with the aim of putting an end to the Bolsheviks within 3-4 weeks as a result of the "blitzkrieg" and that "this goal will certainly be achieved ". We, the nationalists, - continued the member of the OUN wire, - are vitally interested in the success of the enterprise planned by Hitler, since he promised our guide Stepan Bandera to tear Ukraine away from the USSR and give it "full state independence."

Further, this member of the wire stated that the next day all of us by German intelligence would be transported across the state border to Soviet territory with specific tasks of subversive order, but that he would give each of us individually an assignment along the line of out-of-band OUN work and appearance before the conductors of the relevant OUN organizations operating in the western regions of the Ukrainian SSR.

At the same time, he distributed to all of us one brochure of the “Resolutions of the 2nd Extraordinary Large Meeting of the OUN” and, most surprising of all, (since it was 9 days before the start of the war and two weeks before the capture of Lvov by the Germans), - one copy the notorious manifesto of Ukrainian nationalists (promulgated on June 30, 1941 in Lvov) proclaiming an "Independent Ukrainian conciliar state", but without specifying the date. Later, when the German deceit, treachery and attitude of the Banderaites were revealed, the latter realized that the advance preparation of this manifesto, which they then perceived with a feeling of warm gratitude to Hitler, was an act of his sincere friendship for the Ukrainian nationalists and a guarantee document for granting Ukraine, after its occupation German troops of independence, ”was another political trick of the Hitlerite clique, designed to lull the OUN vigilance and effectively use the German command in the rear of the Red Army as a spy and sabotage agent. initial stage war.

However, this did not prevent the OUN in early spring 1944, when almost all of Volhynia and Polissya were liberated by the Red Army, once again in the history of its shameful existence to show lackey obligingness to the Germans, vividly responding to their proposal to conclude an agreement on joint military operations against the USSR.

Question: On this issue you will be interrogated later, but now continue to show about your preparations for crossing the Soviet border for subversive work in the rear of the Red Army.

Answer: Having distributed to us one copy of the "Resolution of the 2nd Extraordinary Large Meeting of the OUN" and the manifesto on the "self-independence" of Ukraine, a member of the Central Wire instructed us to duplicate the "Resolution" and distribute it among the population of the western regions of Ukraine - as soon as we find ourselves there. As for the manifesto, he stated that it would also need to be immediately reproduced there for the indicated purposes, but that it should be distributed only on the second or third day of the war, when “the valiant German army will invade deep enough into the territory of Ukraine.” GA RF F. R-9478. Op. 1, D. 399, L. 21-37. A certified copy," the expert says.

Expert, political scientist and historian, candidate historical sciences Lev Vershinin commented on the events connected with one of the cornerstones of modern Bandera historiography - the myth that the act of June 30, 1941 was proclaimed in secret from the Germans.

In general, of course, dear Miroslava Berdnik dug up a sensation that casts rays on today, and some people in Kyiv, but even more in Lvov, have every reason to be angry with her ...

According to official Bandera tales, Stepan Andreyevich's lads agreed not to serve Hitler at all, but to work with him on a partnership basis, in connection with which, having entered Lvov and looking around a little, they proclaimed a certain "Ukrainian Power". And the Nazis, angry for arbitrariness, arrested their leaders, including Bandera himself, who miraculously survived in a concentration camp, and his two brothers, who were later executed in a concentration camp, after which the activists went into the forests and declared war on the insidious Reich.

According to the documents, things were somewhat different. Learning about arbitrariness with the "declaration of independence", Hitler, in fact, was very angry, but everything was limited to a strict scolding. The Bandera people were simply told to know their place and not to bury themselves, but they could not sit still, and the brave lads began to shoot in droves the competitors of their OUN-M, that is, the people of Melnik, the heir of Yevgen Konovalets. What the Germans did not like at all, since the Melnikovites were intelligent people who knew languages ​​​​and could follow the instructions of the owners much more efficiently than stupid lads from the meadows - and as a result, the terpets snatched away. Stepan Andreyevich himself was put in the "sanatorium barrack" of Sachsenhausen, practically without limiting anything, his "inner circle" was also, however, in the barracks at a lower level (where the Bandera brothers were killed by Polish prisoners), and the entire asset either went to serve in the native battalions The SS, either fled into the forests and again engaged in the extermination of competitors, mainly, this time, the Bulbovites, but also the surviving Melnikovites, if they came across, too.

Until now, however, both versions agreed on one thing: on June 30, 1941, having shown either courage on the verge of idiocy, or idiocy on the verge of courage, Bandera, contrary to the knowledge and will of the Germans, announced the creation of "independent Ukraine". It was considered both the alpha and omega of their legend.

And here you go. It turns out that this very "Act of Stunning" was written, agreed upon and handed over for public reading even before the war, in Krakow. Not only with the knowledge and permission of the Germans, but also on their instructions, not to mention the direct German participation in the preparation of the text.

You can sympathize with the poor. The evil archivists have taken away the rags that fed them for decades, and how they now demonstrate loyalty to traditions, I have no idea. Is it possible to cut some Poles ...

The President of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a decision "On the formation of the State Defense Committee" headed by I.V. Stalin. Abolished on September 4, 1945. The State Defense Committee (GKO) was formed in view of the state of emergency and in order to more quickly mobilize all the forces of the peoples of the USSR to repulse the enemy. All power in the state was concentrated in the hands of the GKO. The decisions and orders of the State Defense Committee were to be unquestioningly carried out by all party, Soviet, military and Komsomol bodies, as well as by all citizens of the USSR.

The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR approved a mobilization national economic plan for the defense of the country for the third quarter of 1941, oriented towards the restructuring of the national economy in relation to the needs of the war.

The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the Decree "On auto-tractor and horse-drawn transport supplied for the Red Army." In accordance with the Decree, all vehicles, tractors, tractor trailers, motorcycles, bicycles, horses, carts and harness seized, in the order of mobilization, for the needs of the Soviet Army, were accepted by the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR from state organizations, institutions and enterprises, industrial and consumer cooperatives and others. public organizations- free of charge, and from collective farms and individual citizens - for a fee.

The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted Directive No. 1 on the preparation and transition to underground work of party organizations in areas under the threat of occupation.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine created a task force for the deployment of partisan struggle.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Belarus issued Directive No. 1 "On the transition to underground work of party organizations in areas occupied by the enemy."

Soviet troops operating in the Ukhta direction began defensive battles against the 3rd Finnish division.

The Headquarters of the High Command ordered the commander of the troops of the Southwestern Front, Colonel General M.P. Kirponos, by July 9, withdraw the troops of the front to the line of the Korostensky, Novograd-Volynsky, Shepetovsky, Staro-Konstantinovsky, Proskurovsky and Kamenetz-Podolsky fortified regions and organize a stubborn defense.

In all districts of Leningrad, the formation of a people's militia began. In just one day, 10,890 people were selected from the people's militia. In July - September, 10 divisions and 16 separate machine gun and artillery battalions with a total number of 130 thousand people were created from the people's volunteer militias in Leningrad, who fought at the front and in defensive battles on the outskirts of the city.

The Ladoga military flotilla was formed.

German troops occupied the cities of Lvov, Brody, Buysk, Vinniki, Gorodok, Kamen-Kashyrsky, Komarno, Krasnoye, Ostrog, Stary Sambir, Chervonoarmeysk in Ukraine; in Belarus - the city of Osipovichi.

Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Council People's Commissars USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on the formation of the State Defense Committee

In view of the state of emergency and in order to quickly mobilize all the forces of the peoples of the USSR to repulse the enemy who treacherously attacked our Motherland, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR recognized it necessary:

1. Create a State Defense Committee consisting of: comrade Stalin I.V. (Chairman), Comrade V.M. Molotov (deputy chairman), comrade Voroshilov K.E., comrade Malenkov G.M., comrade Beria L.P.

2. Concentrate all power in the state in the hands of the State Defense Committee.

3. Oblige all citizens and all party, Soviet, Komsomol and military bodies to unquestioningly comply with the decisions and orders of the State Defense Committee.

Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR M.I. Kalinin

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks I.V. Stalin

Chronicle of events in Leningrad

The Military Council, headquarters and political department of the army of volunteers were formed in Leningrad. Major General A.I. was appointed commander of the army. Subbotin. The headquarters of the new army was located in the former Mariinsky Palace (St. Isaac's Square, 6), where at the beginning of 1918 the All-Russian Commission for the Formation of the Red Army worked.

However, the front needs not only people. The Leningrad city party committee today decided on measures to ensure the implementation of the July plan for the release of ammunition. A decision was also made to increase the production of defense products at the Krasny Triangle plant and to manufacture one hundred RUS-2 installations at Leningrad enterprises [RUS - aircraft radar].

On the Karelian Isthmus again enemy attacks. Unable to break the resistance of our troops the day before, the enemy on June 30 launched an offensive with more significant forces. A particularly heavy battle ensued at the site of the 4th border outpost of the 102nd border detachment. Among the defenders of this line there were wounded. Maria Utkina, who worked at the outpost as a laundress, helped to bandage them and take them to a safe place. When women were sent to the rear, she flatly refused to leave the outpost. The laundress became a nurse. There was a moment when she had to take up arms. Carrying out the wounded, she discovered an enemy scout who had sneaked into our rear. He refused to give up. There was only one thing left to shoot.

Later, when the situation became very difficult, Maria Utkina, in order to help out the border guards, made her way to the neighboring rifle regiment under fire and brought help from there.

In one of the battles, Maria Utkina died. The military council of the front posthumously awarded the laundress of the 4th frontier post with the Order of the Red Banner.

Today, Leningrad writer Lev Kantorovich, the author of many books about border guards, died on the border. If he were alive, he might have written about Maria Utkina. Somewhat later, another Leningrad writer, Vissarion Sayanov, did this. He dedicated a poem to her, which is called “Maria Utkina”.

In the message of the Soviet Information Bureau on June 30, a new direction was named - Dvina. Our troops are fighting fierce battles here with enemy motorized mechanized units, which are trying to break through in the northeast direction.

The northeast direction is Pskov, Leningrad ... And although from Dvinsk [Priozersk - approx. author] to Leningrad, even in a straight line five hundred kilometers, there is reason to worry. It is no accident that Leningrad pilots took part in the battles on the Western Dvina today. They bombed enemy tanks.

The target had to break through strong barriers of fighters. The bomber of the Baltic pilot Pyotr Igashev was attacked by three Messerschmitts and set on fire. The burning car continued to fly towards the target. But, seeing that the neighboring bomber was also attacked by an enemy fighter, Igashev decided to help out his comrades and rammed the enemy. He rammed and immediately sent his flaming plane into the fascist tanks and armored personnel carriers that had accumulated at the crossing. They did not leave the burning plane and the death of the heroes, along with the crew commander, navigator D. Parfenov, arrows V. Novikov and A. Khokhlachev died. It was the first ramming attack by a bomber in the Great Patriotic War. In addition, double - in the air, and on the ground.

Memoirs of David Iosifovich Ortenberg, editor-in-chief of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper

This morning the editors-in-chief of the central newspapers were gathered in the Central Committee of the Party. Secretary of the Central Committee A.S. Shcherbakov read out the directive of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks signed at night. Read it aloud, out loud. Each word echoed not only in the minds, but also in the heart of each of us. The words of Lenin's unforgettable decree of the eighteenth year "The socialist fatherland is in danger!" Came to mind, as if written for this war.

The directive was the program of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, the basis for the combat activities of the troops and the restructuring of the national economy on a war footing. We, the editors, immediately figure out in our minds what to give to the newspaper, what leading articles ...

I will not hide. There were words in the directive that, as they say, did not immediately reach me, and not only me. Namely: “Despite the serious threat that has arisen for our country, some party, Soviet, trade union and Komsomol organizations and their leaders have not yet realized the significance of this threat and do not understand that the war has dramatically changed the situation, that our Motherland has found itself in the greatest danger and that we must quickly and decisively reorganize all our work on a military footing.

And who are these “some” leaders, and in what way have they “not yet realized the significance of the threat...”? The explanation came a little later. It seemed to people with pre-war ideas about a future war that the enemy would be immediately stopped, thrown out of our country, defeated. Many of us, like chickenpox, had been ill with this in the first days of the war. Not everyone immediately realized that the war would be hard, bloody, would require huge sacrifices and a lot of time ...

A decision was received from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Central Committee of the Party and the Council of People's Commissars on the creation of the State Defense Committee. All power in the state is concentrated in his hands. An editorial devoted to this act went into the issue.

Report of the Political Propaganda Directorate of the South-Western Front to the Main Directorate of Political Propaganda of the Red Army on the heroism of the division commanders in repelling enemy attacks in the Przemysl region of the Lvov region from June 22 to June 27, 1941

Commandant of the pillbox of the 8th fortified area (Przemysl) ml. lieutenant, Komsomol member Chaplin, being at the firing point, with well-aimed fire from a 76-mm cannon, dealt a tangible blow to the enemy. Tov. Chaplin blew up a large oil storage facility with direct fire, and then destroyed the rolling stock of a freight train.

During this period, the enemy tried several times to cross the railway bridge of the river. San but T. Chaplin long time held back his pressure.

Comrade Chaplin's firing point was subjected to intensive shelling, about 500 shells exploded on and near the pillbox, but the firing point turned out to be unharmed.

With the occupation of the city of Przemysl by the 99th Infantry Division, Comrade Chaplin replenished the dot with ammunition and continued to destroy the enemy until he received a withdrawal to new positions.

The squadron commander of the 48th high-speed bomber regiment, captain Asaulov, performing a combat mission with 4 crews, was attacked by 16 enemy fighters. In the ensuing air battle, 4 enemy aircraft were shot down.

Commander of the 9th company of the 306th rifle regiment of the 62nd rifle division, member of the CPSU (b), ml. Lieutenant Sisman, awarded the Order of Lenin for his heroism in battles with the White Finns, being wounded in battle, continued to command the company and only on June 25, 1941, having received two more wounds, was evacuated.

The squadron commander of the 164th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 15th Aviation Division, Captain Samsonov I.D., accompanied by bombers, fought with 8 enemy Messerschmntt fighters. He shot down one, he himself came out of the battle unharmed.

The platoon commander of the 104th Infantry Regiment, Lieutenant Yagupov, heroically fought with his platoon of cadets when the battalion was surrounded by the enemy. Yagupov correctly organized the fire and led the platoon out of the encirclement, but during the battle he himself died a hero's death.

Lieutenant of the 28th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 15th Aviation Division, Usevich, accompanied by bombers, fought with three enemy aircraft, of which he shot down one, and he himself left the battle without defeat.

In air combat, the aircraft ml. Lieutenant of the 28th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 15th Aviation Division Chesnokov received a hole in the oil tank, as a result of which Comrade Chesnokov made an emergency landing on his territory in the Brody area. After landing, the airfield was bombed by Nazi aircraft. Chesnokov shot down 2 enemy bombers with a light machine gun.

Head of the Political Propaganda Department
Southwestern Front Brigadier Commissar (Mikhailov)

TsAMO USSR, f. 229, op. 213, d. 11, l. 13-15. Copy.

Afternoon message June 30

During the night of June 30, our troops continued to wage stubborn battles in the Murmansk, Dvina, Minsk and Lutsk directions.

In other directions and sectors of the front, night searches for scouts, private regroupings of troops and artillery fire took place.

On June 29, the enemy persistently and repeatedly tried to cross our state border on the Karelian Isthmus, but each time, with heavy losses, the fire and counterattacks of our troops were thrown back to their original position.

In the Keksholm direction, the enemy, with a strength of up to two infantry battalions of German troops, went on the attack three times against the positions occupied by our troops. Leaving 300 dead on the battlefield, the enemy withdrew beyond the state border.

On the same day, in the Vyborg direction, the enemy tried to land an amphibious assault. By decisive actions of our troops, the enemy landing force was destroyed during the landing and on the shore.

In an air battle over the Sebezh region, our fighter shot down a German Yu-52 aircraft. The enemy aircraft burned down. 4 pilots parachuted down and were taken prisoner.

The pilots of Comrade Rudakov's unit are heroically fighting the enemy. For three days in air attacks they shot down 13 fascist bombers and fighters. The pilots of the squadron Comrade Karabinets are also fighting no less successfully. In one air battle, they shot down 5 enemy aircraft without losing a single one.

During the bombing, the commander of the aircraft, Andrianov, noticed that two fascist fighters had attacked the plane of the pilot Kuzmenko, on which the engine had deteriorated. Andrianov hurried to the rescue of a comrade, shot down one fighter and forced another to leave. Under the protection of Andrianov pilot Kuzmenko safely brought the plane to the base.

At dawn, our reconnaissance aircraft discovered an enemy tank group rapidly moving towards the town of O.. Having received a report about this, the command ordered the units to cut off the path of enemy vehicles. Squadrons of Soviet dive bombers flew out to meet the enemy. As a result of the battle, in which our aviation and tank units showed courage and valor, the enemy was defeated. 15 German tanks disabled.

Night fighter formations are excellent. One of them, under the command of Major Verbov, shot down 5 enemy bombers in one night, trying to break through to an important military facility. Lieutenant Zheleznov shot down two Yu-88s.

The captured soldiers of the 179th German Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Ibsen, report that most of the soldiers from their military unit, transferred from France, are strongly opposed to the war with the Soviet Union. Groups of prisoners of war addressed the soldiers of the 179th regiment with a letter stating: “We are confident that the Hitler regime, hated by all the progressive people of Germany, will fall under the crushing blows of the Red Army. Brothers German soldiers! During the several days of the war we became convinced that the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army displayed exceptional courage and fearlessness in battle. So fight and defend your land as one fights soviet soldiers, only those who fight for a just cause can. Do not believe Hitler's malicious slander on the Soviet Union and its army. Turn your weapon against the true enemy of the German people - against the fascist clique, which throws millions of deceived people to certain death.

The patriotic upsurge of the Soviet people, mass labor heroism are growing every day and are manifesting themselves with unprecedented strength.

At the Leningrad plant named after Ilyich, a grinder comrade, wounded in battles with the White Finns in the winter of 1940, appeared. Popov. “At a time like this,” he declared, “I can’t remain in retirement. I have enough strength and experience to replace my comrades who have gone to the front.”

On the very first day of the war, 20 pensioners, first-class turners, boilermakers, planers, molders returned to one of the factories in Rostov-on-Don. “We fought the German occupiers in 1918,” they write in their statement. “In moments of formidable danger to our homeland, we cannot stand aside. We are again taking places at the units in order to forge the victory of our native Red Army, aviation and Navy.

A huge patriotic upsurge among women is reported from all parts of the Soviet Union. More than 100 housewives came to the Ordzhonikidze plant with a proposal to replace the men who had gone to the front.

At the plant named after Max Geltz, the Stakhanovite mechanic comrade Tyant did not leave the plant for three days until he finished assembling the responsible mechanisms. After resting after that for three hours, he undertook to help his fellow workers.

At the machine-building plant named after Lenin, the boilermaker comrade. Vorobyov successfully replaces four workers who have gone to the ranks of the Red Army. Master Comrade. Antonov, together with assistant comrade. Bashmakov, having made an original adaptation to the unit, increased its productivity, which made it possible to replace five workers who had gone into the army.

Evening message June 30

During June 30, along the entire length of the Soviet-Finnish state border, the enemy, who had been advancing the day before, was driven back by our troops.

Fierce battles with German troops are going on in the Murmansk direction, during which the enemy suffers significant losses.

In the Vilna-Dvina direction, our troops are fighting fierce battles with enemy motorized mechanized units, which are trying to break through in a northeast direction. Our troops oppose the numerically superior enemy in this direction with stubbornness and speed of maneuver.

In the Minsk and Baranovichi directions, our troops are engaged in stubborn battles with superior forces enemy mobile troops, delaying their advance at intermediate lines.

In the Rovno region, major battles of tank formations continue. All enemy attempts to break through to the east were repulsed with heavy losses for him. The battles in this direction were in the nature of fierce skirmishes of tank units, as a result of which a significant number of German tanks were destroyed.

On the Bessarabian sector of the front, the enemy again tried to force the river. Prut, but with quick and decisive actions of our troops, these attempts were repulsed with heavy losses for him.

Over the past day, ships of the Navy have sunk two enemy submarines in the Baltic Sea and one in the Black Sea.

On June 29, the Red Army soldier Ismailov showed exceptional skill in conducting super-accurate single fire. Well disguised, he hit with accurate shots, one after another, eleven White Finnish rangers who were trying to cross our state border.

Five fascist tanks launched against the tank crew of Senior Sergeant Spichenkov. Sergeant Spichenkov did not lose his head. Cold-bloodedly, he began to shoot enemy tanks point-blank. One after another, four fascist tanks failed. Spichenkov pointed the gun at the fifth tank, but the enemy bullet seriously wounded this fearless commander. His place was taken by the junior political instructor Ogir. He also shot the fifth fascist tank in the forehead.

The crew of the patrol boat of the Black Sea Fleet under the command of Lieutenant Ostrenko discovered an enemy submarine. The boat immediately went on a swift attack. The Nazi submarine was destroyed by depth charges.

The other day, between points M. and B., in the area of ​​a large railway bridge, children from a neighboring village noticed a fascist plane circling for a long time over the same place. The enemy pilot was looking out for a landing site. The children immediately contacted the commander of the nearest military unit. Soon, two large enemy transport aircraft landed at the designated place, from which 22 saboteurs landed. Looking around like thieves, they began to make their way to the bridge.

The platoon of Lieutenant Tarasov, who was instructed to eliminate the landing force, allowing the saboteurs to reach 50 meters, opened heavy machine-gun fire on the enemy. The Nazis were confused. Our fighters hit with bayonets. Some of the surviving saboteurs tried to escape without a fight. Enveloping the gang in a semicircle, the platoon pressed it to the swamp and completely destroyed it.

Captain Borodiansky was given the task of delivering to the army headquarters a map of the situation of a military formation that fought against a numerically superior enemy. Together with two Red Army soldiers, the captain began to go around the units. Near the town of 0. from the forest they were attacked by more than 20 German paratroopers armed with automatic weapons. Our fighters and the commander boldly entered the battle. Captain Borodiansky, twice wounded, did not leave the battlefield until he ordered reinforcements to come to the rescue to comb the forest and destroy the enemy gang. The report with which Captain Borodyansky was sent was promptly delivered to the army headquarters. Using the data of the report, the command defeated the enemy unit.

The Stockholm information bureau Bulls, which is the organ of German propaganda in Scandinavia, is spreading a provocative report that Soviet planes allegedly raided the Bulgarian city of Ruschuk and fired on it with machine guns.

This message is a complete fabrication. It goes without saying that not a single Soviet aircraft appeared over the territory of Bulgaria.

Under pressure and threat from Hitler, the "Vichy government" in France tore diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. At the same time, the "Vichy government", according to Reuters, explains its decision with an absurd and false pretext, as if "Soviet diplomatic and consular representatives violated public order and security." There is no need to prove that by this act the Vichy rulers exposed themselves as agents of the German fascists who had betrayed the interests of France.

Through blackmail and direct threats, Hitler forces the governments of the states he has conquered to fight the Soviet Union.

All this is being done in order to deceive world public opinion and thereby stage a "campaign" of the states of Western Europe against the Soviet Union.

Hitler threatened the Tiso government to annex Slovakia to Hungary if Slovakia did not declare war on the Soviet Union.

In the Romanian capital of Bucharest, unrest began, caused by major interruptions in food supplies. At one of the shops, the crowd killed three Nazis who were trying to disperse the queues for bread.

The entire Soviet people is seized with a patriotic upsurge, inspired by the desire to give a crushing rebuff to the presumptuous fascist provocateurs of the war.

In factories, plants and transport, collective farms, state farms and institutions, the working people are highly organized and vigilant. Workers and women workers are successfully overfulfilling production plans, supplying the Red Army with everything necessary; in the southern regions of the country, collective farmers are harvesting rich harvests at an unprecedented pace; employees of Soviet institutions conduct their work in an organized manner; scientists, writers, artists - the entire Soviet intelligentsia gives their strength and knowledge to their homeland, the Red Army.

In the terrible and bloody confusion of the first day of the Great Patriotic War, the exploits of those soldiers and commanders of the Red Army, border guards, sailors and pilots, who, not sparing their own lives, repelled the onslaught of the strong and skillful against, stand out clearly.

War or provocation?

On June 22, 1941, at five o'clock 45 minutes in the morning, an urgent meeting began in the Kremlin with the participation of the country's top military and political leadership. There was only one item on the agenda. Is this a full-scale war or a border provocation?

Pale and sleepy, Joseph Stalin sat at the table, holding a pipe not stuffed with tobacco in his hands. Addressing People's Commissar of Defense Marshal Semyon Timoshenko and Chief General Staff The Red Army General Georgy Zhukov, the de facto ruler of the USSR, asked: "Is this not a provocation of the German generals?"

“No, Comrade Stalin, the Germans are bombing our cities in the Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltics. What kind of provocation is this? Timoshenko answered gloomily.

Offensive in three main directions

By this time, fierce border battles were already in full swing on the Soviet-German border. Events developed rapidly.

Field Marshal Wilhelm von Leeb's Army Group North was advancing in the Baltic, breaking the battle formations of the North-Western Front of General Fyodor Kuznetsov. At the forefront of the main attack was General Erich von Manstein's 56th motorized corps.

Army Group "South" of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt operated in Ukraine, inflicting a blow between the Fifth and Sixth Armies of the Southwestern Front of General Mikhail Kirponos by the forces of the First Panzer Group of General Ewald von Kleist and the Sixth Field Army of Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau, advancing by the end of the day by 20 kilometers.

The Wehrmacht, which numbered in its ranks seven million 200 thousand people against five million 400 thousand soldiers and commanders in the Red Army, dealt the main blow in the zone of the Western Front, which was under the command of General Dmitry Pavlov. The strike was carried out by the troops of Field Marshal Fedor von Bock's Army Group Center, which included two tank groups at once - the Second General Heinz Guderian and the Third General Hermann Goth.

sad picture of the day

Hanging from the south and from the north over the Belostok ledge, in which the 10th army of General Konstantin Golubev was located, both German tank armies moved under the base of the ledge, destroying the defenses of the Soviet front. By seven o'clock in the morning, Brest, which was part of Guderian's offensive zone, was captured, but the units defending the Brest fortress and the station fought fiercely in complete encirclement.

The actions of the ground troops were actively supported by the Luftwaffe, which destroyed on June 22 1200 aircraft of the Red Army aviation, many still at airfields in the first hours of the war, and gained air supremacy.

A sad picture of the day was described in his memoirs by General Ivan Boldin, whom Pavlov sent by plane from Minsk to restore contact with the command of the 10th Army.

During the first 8 hours of the war, the Soviet army lost 1200 aircraft, of which about 900 were destroyed on the ground. In the photo: June 23, 1941 in Kyiv, Grushki district.

Nazi Germany relied on a blitzkrieg strategy. Her plan, called "Barbarossa", meant the end of the war before the autumn thaw. In the photo: German aircraft bombing Soviet cities. June 22, 1941.

The day after the start of the war, in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the mobilization of 14 ages (born 1905-1918) in 14 military districts was announced. In the other three districts - Trans-Baikal, Central Asian and Far Eastern - mobilization was carried out a month later under the guise of "large training camps." In the photo: recruits in Moscow, June 23, 1941.

Simultaneously with Germany, Italy and Romania declared war on the USSR. A day later, Slovakia joined them. In the photo: a tank regiment at the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization named after. Stalin before being sent to the front. Moscow, June 1941.

On June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR was created. In August, it was renamed the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. In the photo: columns of fighters go to the front. Moscow, June 23, 1941.

The state border of the USSR from the Barents to the Black Sea on June 22, 1941 was guarded by 666 border outposts, 485 of them were attacked on the very first day of the war. None of the outposts attacked on June 22 retreated without orders. In the photo: children on the streets of the city. Moscow, June 23, 1941.

Of the 19,600 border guards who met the Nazis on June 22, more than 16,000 died in the first days of the war. In the photo: refugees. June 23, 1941

At the beginning of the war, three groups of German armies were concentrated and deployed near the borders of the USSR: "North", "Center" and "South". They were supported from the air by three air fleets. In the photo: collective farmers are building defensive lines in the front line. July 1, 1941.

The army "North" was supposed to destroy the forces of the USSR in the Baltic states, as well as capture Leningrad and Kronstadt, depriving the Russian fleet of its strongholds in the Baltic. "Center" provided an offensive in Belarus and the capture of Smolensk. Army Group South was responsible for the offensive in western Ukraine. In the photo: the family leaves their home in Kirovograd. August 1, 1941.

In addition, on the territory of occupied Norway and in Northern Finland, the Wehrmacht had a separate army "Norway", which was set to capture Murmansk, the main naval base of the Northern Fleet Polyarny, the Rybachy Peninsula, and also Kirovskaya railway north of Belomorsk. In the photo: columns of fighters are moving to the front. Moscow, June 23, 1941.

Finland did not allow Germany to strike at the USSR from its territory, but received instructions from the German Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces to prepare for the start of the operation. Without waiting for the attack, on the morning of June 25, the Soviet command launched a massive air strike on 18 Finnish airfields. After that, Finland announced that it was at war with the USSR. In the photo: graduates of the Military Academy. Stalin. Moscow, June 1941.

On June 27, Hungary also declared war on the USSR. On July 1, at the direction of Germany, the Hungarian Carpathian Group of Forces attacked the Soviet 12th Army. In the photo: nurses help the first wounded after the Nazi air raid near Chisinau, June 22, 1941.

From July 1 to September 30, 1941, the Red Army and the Soviet Navy carried out the Leningrad strategic operation. According to the Barbarossa plan, the capture of Leningrad and Kronstadt was one of the intermediate goals, followed by an operation to capture Moscow. In the photo: a link of Soviet fighters flies over Peter and Paul Fortress in Leningrad. August 01, 1941.

One of the largest operations in the first months of the war was the defense of Odessa. The bombing of the city began on July 22, and in August Odessa was surrounded by German-Romanian troops from land. In the photo: one of the first German aircraft shot down near Odessa. July 1, 1941.

The defense of Odessa delayed the advance of the right wing of Army Group South for 73 days. During this time, the German-Romanian troops lost over 160 thousand troops, about 200 aircraft and up to 100 tanks. In the photo: scout Katya from Odessa is talking with the fighters, sitting in a wagon. District Red Dalnik. August 01, 1941.

The original plan of "Barbarossa" assumed the capture of Moscow during the first three to four months of the war. However, despite the successes of the Wehrmacht, increased resistance Soviet troops prevented its implementation. They delayed the German offensive of the battle for Smolensk, Kyiv and Leningrad. In the photo: anti-aircraft gunners defend the sky of the capital. August 1, 1941.

The battle for Moscow, which the Germans called Operation Typhoon, began on September 30, 1941, with the main forces of Army Group Center leading the offensive. In the photo: flowers to wounded soldiers in a Moscow hospital. June 30, 1941.

The defensive stage of the Moscow operation was carried out until December 1941. And only at the beginning of the 42nd year, the Red Army went on the offensive, pushing the German troops back 100-250 kilometers back. In the photo: the beams of searchlights of the air defense forces illuminate the sky of Moscow. June 1941.

At noon on June 22, 1941, the whole country listened to the radio address of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR Vyacheslav Molotov, who announced the German attack. “Our cause is right. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours,” was the final phrase of the appeal to the Soviet people.

"Explosions shake the ground, cars burn"

“Trains and warehouses are on fire. Ahead, to our left, there are big fires on the horizon. Enemy bombers constantly scurry in the air.

Going around the settlements, we are approaching Bialystok. Further we go, worse it becomes. More and more enemy aircraft are in the air ... We had no time to move 200 meters from the plane after landing, when the noise of engines was heard in the sky. Nine Junkers showed up, they are descending over the airfield and dropping bombs. Explosions shake the ground, cars burn. The planes on which we had just arrived were also engulfed in fire ... "Our pilots fought to the last opportunity. In the early morning of June 22, the deputy squadron commander of the 46th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Senior Lieutenant Ivanov Ivanov, at the head of the I-16 troika, took on several He-111 bombers. One of them was shot down, and the rest began to drop bombs and turn back.

At that moment, three more enemy vehicles appeared. Given that the fuel was running out and the cartridges ran out, Ivanov decided to ram the leading German aircraft and, going into its tail and making a slide, sharply hit the enemy's tail with his propeller.

Soviet fighter I-16

The exact time of the air ram

A bomber with crosses crashed five kilometers from the airfield, which was defended by Soviet pilots, but Ivanov was also mortally wounded when an I-16 crashed on the outskirts of the village of Zagortsy. The exact time of the ramming - 4:25 - was recorded by the pilot's wristwatch, which stopped from hitting the dashboard. Ivanov died on the same day in a hospital in the city of Dubno. He was only 31 years old. In August 1941, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

At 5:10 a.m., junior lieutenant Dmitry Kokarev from the 124th Fighter Aviation Regiment took off his MiG-3. From left and right, his comrades took off - to intercept German bombers that attacked their field airfield in Vysoka Mazowiecka near Bialystok.

Shoot down the enemy at any cost

During a short-lived battle on the plane of 22-year-old Kokarev, the weapon failed, and the pilot decided to ram the enemy. Despite the aimed shots of the enemy gunner, the brave pilot approached the enemy Dornier Do 217 and shot it down, landing on the airfield on the damaged plane himself.

Pilot Oberfeldwebel Erich Stockmann and non-commissioned officer gunner Hans Schumacher burned to death in a wrecked aircraft. Only the navigator, squadron commander Lieutenant Hans-Georg Peters and flight radio operator Sergeant Hans Kownacki managed to survive after the swift attack of the Soviet fighter, who managed to jump out with parachutes.

In total, on the first day of the war, at least 15 Soviet pilots made an aerial ramming against the pilots of the Luftwaffe.

Fighting surrounded for days and weeks

On the ground, the Germans also began to suffer losses from the beginning of the invasion. First of all - faced with fierce resistance from the personnel of 485 attacked border outposts. According to the Barbarossa plan, no more than half an hour was allotted for the capture of each. In fact, the soldiers in green caps fought for hours, days and even weeks, nowhere retreating without an order.

The neighbors also distinguished themselves - the Third Frontier Outpost of the same detachment. Thirty-six border guards, led by 24-year-old Lieutenant Viktor Usov, fought for more than six hours against a Wehrmacht infantry battalion, repeatedly switching to bayonet counterattacks. Having received five wounds, Usov died in a trench with a sniper rifle in his hands and in 1965 was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

The Gold Star was also posthumously awarded to 26-year-old Lieutenant Aleksey Lopatin, commander of the 13th border outpost of the 90th Vladimir-Volynsky border detachment. Leading an all-round defense, he fought with his subordinates for 11 days in complete encirclement, skillfully using the facilities of the local fortified area and favorable terrain. On June 29, he managed to withdraw women and children from the encirclement, and then, returning to the outpost, he, like his fighters, died in an unequal battle on July 2, 1941.

Landing on the enemy coast

The soldiers of the Ninth Frontier Post of the 17th Brest Frontier Detachment, Lieutenant Andrei Kizhevatov, were among the most staunch defenders of the Brest Fortress, which was stormed by the 45th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht for nine days. The thirty-three-year-old commander was wounded on the first day of the war, but until June 29 he continued to lead the defense of the barracks of the 333rd regiment and the Terespol gates and died in a desperate counterattack. 20 years after the war, Kizhevatov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

On the site of the 79th Izmail border detachment, which guarded the border with Romania, on June 22, 1941, 15 enemy attempts were repelled to cross the Prut and Danube rivers in order to capture a bridgehead on Soviet territory. At the same time, the well-aimed fire of the fighters in green caps was supplemented by aimed volleys of army artillery of the 51st Infantry Division of General Pyotr Tsirulnikov.

On the twenty-fourth of June, the fighters of the division, together with the border guards and sailors of the Danube military flotilla, led by lieutenant commander Ivan Kubyshkin, crossed the Danube and captured a 70-kilometer bridgehead in Romania, which they held until July 19, when, by order of the command, the last paratroopers left for the eastern bank of the river .

Commandant of the first liberated city

The first city to be recognized as liberated from German troops was Przemysl (or Przemysl - in Polish) in Western Ukraine, which was attacked by the 101st Infantry Division from the 17th Field Army of General Karl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, advancing on Lvov and Tarnopol.

Fierce battles ensued for him. On June 22, Przemysl was defended for 10 hours by the fighters of the Przemysl border detachment, who then retreated, having received the appropriate order. Their stubborn defense allowed them to gain time before the approach of the regiments of the 99th Infantry Division of Colonel Nikolai Dementyev, who the next morning, together with border guards and soldiers of the local fortified area, attacked the Germans, knocking them out of the city and holding it until June 27.

The hero of the battles was the 33-year-old senior lieutenant Grigory Polivoda, who commanded a combined battalion of border guards and became the first commander whose subordinates cleared the Soviet city of the enemy. He was rightfully appointed commandant of Przemysl and died in battle on July 30, 1941.

Gained time and pulled up new reserves

Following the results of the first day of the war with Russia, the chief of the general staff of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces, General Franz Halder, noted with some surprise in his personal diary that after the initial stupor caused by the suddenness of the attack, the Red Army proceeded to active operations. “Without a doubt, on the side of the enemy there were cases of tactical withdrawal, albeit disorderly. There are no signs of an operational withdrawal, ”the German general wrote.

Red Army soldiers go on the attack

He did not suspect that the war that had just begun and victorious for the Wehrmacht would soon turn from a lightning-fast one into a life-and-death struggle between the two states, and victory would not go to Germany at all.

General Kurt von Tippelskirch, who became a historian after the war, described in his works the actions of the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army. “The Russians held out with unexpected firmness and tenacity, even when they were bypassed and surrounded. By doing this, they bought time and pulled together all the new reserves for counterattacks from the depths of the country, which, moreover, were stronger than expected.

For the first time, a summary of the high command of the Soviet army appears on the night radio news: “At dawn on June 22, 1941, the regular troops of the German army attacked our border units on the front from the Baltic to the Black Sea and were held back by them during the first half of the day. In the afternoon, the German troops met with the advanced units of the field troops of the Red Army. After fierce fighting, the enemy was repulsed with heavy losses. Only in the Grodno and Krystynopol directions did the enemy manage to achieve minor tactical successes and occupy the towns of Kalvariya, Stojanow and Tsekhanovets (the first two at 15 km and the last at 10 km from the border).

Enemy aviation attacked a number of our airfields and settlements, but everywhere they met with a decisive rebuff from our fighters and anti-aircraft artillery, which inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. We shot down 65 enemy planes.”

It is known that during the first day of the war, the Wehrmacht troops advanced along the entire border 50-60 km deep into the territory of the USSR.

The Main Military Council of the Red Army sent a directive to the troops, ordering from the morning of June 23 to deliver decisive counterattacks to enemy groups that had broken through into the territory of the USSR. For the most part, the implementation of these directives will only lead to even greater losses and worsen the situation of the units of the army that entered the war.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers a radio address in which he promises the USSR all the help that Great Britain can give: “Over the past 25 years, no one has been a more consistent opponent of communism than me. I won't take back a single word I said about him. But all this pales before the spectacle now unfolding. The past with its crimes, follies and tragedies disappears. ... I must announce the decision of His Majesty's Government, and I am sure that the great Dominions will agree to this decision in due time, for we must speak at once, without a single day of delay. I have to make a statement, but can you doubt what our policy will be? We have only one single unchanging goal. We are determined to destroy Hitler and all traces of the Nazi regime. Nothing can turn us away from it, nothing. We will never negotiate, we will never enter into negotiations with Hitler or with any of his gang. We will fight him on land, we will fight him at sea, we will fight him in the air until, with God's help, we rid the earth of his very shadow and free the peoples from his yoke. Any person or state that fights against Nazism will receive our help. Any person or state that goes with Hitler is our enemy... This is our policy, this is our statement. It follows from this that we will give Russia and the Russian people all the help we can. We will appeal to all our friends and allies in all parts of the world to adhere to the same course and to pursue it with the same staunchness and unswerving to the end, as we will do ...

This is not a class war, but a war that involves the entire British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations, without distinction of race, creed or party. It is not for me to talk about the actions of the United States, but I will say that if Hitler imagines that his attack on Soviet Russia causes the slightest divergence of aims or diminution of the efforts of the great democracies which have determined to destroy him, he is profoundly mistaken. On the contrary, it will further strengthen and encourage our efforts to save humanity from its tyranny. It will strengthen, not weaken, our resolve and our capabilities.”

People's Commissar of Defense Semyon Timoshenko signs a directive on air strikes 100-150 km deep into Germany, orders the bombing of Koenigsberg and Danzig. These bombings did happen, but two days later, on June 24th.

The last visitors of Stalin left the Kremlin: Beria, Molotov and Voroshilov. On those days, no one else met with Stalin and there was practically no connection with him.

The documents recorded the first atrocities of the fascist troops in the newly occupied territory. The Germans, advancing, broke into the village of Albinga in the Klaipeda region of Lithuania. The soldiers robbed and burned all the houses. Residents - 42 people - were herded into a barn and locked up. During the day, the Nazis killed several people - they beat them to death or shot them. The next morning, the systematic destruction of people began. Groups of peasants were taken out of the barn and shot in cold blood. First all the men, then the turn came to women and children. Those who tried to escape into the forest were shot in the back.

Italy declares war on the USSR. More precisely, Foreign Minister Ciano informs the USSR Ambassador to Italy, Gorelkin, that war has been declared since 5.30 in the morning. “In view of the current situation, due to the fact that Germany has declared war on the USSR, Italy, as an ally of Germany and as a member of the Tripartite Pact, also declares war on the Soviet Union from the moment the German troops enter Soviet territory, i.e. from 5.30 June 22. In fact, both Italian and Romanian units attacked the Soviet borders together with the German allies from the first minutes of the war.

People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov speaks on Soviet radio about the beginning of the war. " Soviet government and its head comrade. Stalin instructed me to make the following statement:

Today, at 4 o'clock in the morning, without presenting any claims against the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed our cities - Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sevastopol, Kaunas from their aircraft. and some others, more than two hundred people were killed and wounded. Enemy aircraft raids and artillery shelling were also carried out from Romanian and Finnish territory.

This unheard-of attack on our country is treachery unparalleled in the history of civilized peoples. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that a non-aggression pact was concluded between the USSR and Germany and the Soviet government fulfilled all the conditions of this pact in all good faith. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that during the entire period of the validity of this treaty the German government could never present a single claim against the USSR for the implementation of the treaty. All responsibility for this predatory attack on the Soviet Union falls entirely on the German fascist rulers... (full text of the speech) Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours."

So the whole country learned about the beginning of the war. It was in this speech, on the very first day, that the war was called Patriotic - a parallel was drawn with Patriotic War 1812. Almost immediately, reservists went to the recruiting stations - those liable for military service, who remained in reserve and did not serve in peacetime. Volunteer enrollment soon began.

An order came to the Baltic Military District to withdraw the national corps of the Red Army beyond the frontline zone, inland. Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian national corps were created a year before, by order of Stalin, after the occupation of the Baltic countries. Now these parts are not trusted.

German aviation inflicts crushing blows on the air bases of the USSR. During the first hours of the war, 1200 aircraft were destroyed at 66 bases, most of them - more than 800 - right on the ground. Therefore, many pilots survived and aviation was gradually restored, including through converted civil aircraft. At the same time, the first German aircraft was destroyed in an air battle in the first hour of the war. In total, the Germans lost about 300 aircraft on June 22 - the largest loss in a day in the entire war.

Stalin confirms the signing of decrees on the conduct of mobilization, the introduction of martial law in the European part of the USSR, the decree on military tribunals, and also on the formation of the Headquarters of the High Command. Mikhail Kalinin signs the decrees as chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. All those liable for military service born from 1905 to 1918 inclusive were subject to mobilization.

Ribbentrop holds a press conference for German and foreign journalists, where he declares that the Fuhrer has decided to take measures to protect Germany from the Soviet threat.

In the Kremlin, Molotov and Stalin are working on a draft of Molotov's speech about the beginning of the war. At half past eight in the morning, Zhukov and Timoshenko arrive with a draft decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on general mobilization.

Goebbels speaks on German radio with a statement about the start of a military operation against the USSR. Among other things, he says: “At a time when Germany is at war with the Anglo-Saxons, Soviet Union does not fulfill its obligations, and the Fuhrer regards this as a stab in the back of the German people. Therefore, German troops have just crossed the border.”

The first wartime order appears, signed by Timoshenko but approved by Stalin. This order ordered the USSR Air Force to destroy all enemy aircraft and allowed aviation to cross the border for 100 km. The ground forces were ordered to stop the invasion and go on the offensive on all fronts, then move on to battles in enemy territory. This order, already little connected with what is happening on the border, the troops do not receive immediately and not all. Communication with the border zones is poorly established, periodically the General Staff loses control over what is happening. By this time, the Germans were bombing the airfields along with the planes that did not have time to take to the air. But, while many units, as before, according to Directive No. 1, do not succumb to provocations, disperse and disguise themselves, to separate sections troops go on the offensive. So the 41st Rifle Division repulsed the attack, entered enemy territory for 3 km and stopped the movement of five Wehrmacht divisions. On June 22, the 5th Panzer Division did not allow the German Panzer Division of the Army Group North to pass near the city of Alytus, where the Neman crossing was located, the most important strategic point for the Germans to advance inland. Only on June 23 the Soviet division was defeated by an air raid.

In Berlin, Ribbentrop summons the USSR Ambassador to Germany Vladimir Dekanozov and the First Secretary of the Embassy Valentin Berezhkov and informs them of the outbreak of war: “The hostile attitude of the Soviet government and the concentration of Soviet troops on the eastern border of Germany, which poses a serious threat, forced the government of the Third Reich to take military countermeasures ". At the same time, having made an official statement, Ribbentrop catches up with Dekanozov on the threshold and quickly tells him: "Tell me in Moscow, I was against it." The ambassadors return to the Soviet residence. Communication with Moscow was cut off, the building was surrounded by SS units. All that remains for them is to destroy the documents. The German generals report to Hitler on the first successes.

Ambassador Schulenburg arrives in the Kremlin. He officially announces the beginning of the war between Germany and the USSR, repeating Ribbentrop's telegram word for word: “The USSR has concentrated all its troops on the German border in full combat readiness. Thus, the Soviet government has violated the treaties with Germany and intends to attack Germany from the rear, while she is fighting for her existence. The Führer therefore ordered the German armed forces to confront this threat with all the means at their disposal." Molotov returns to Stalin and retells his conversation, adding: "We didn't deserve this." Stalin pauses for a long time in his chair, then says: "The enemy will be defeated along the entire front line."

The Western and Baltic special districts reported on the start of hostilities by German troops on land. 4 million soldiers of Germany and allies invaded the border territory of the USSR. 3350 tanks, 7000 various guns and 2000 aircraft were involved in the battles.

However, Stalin, taking in 4.30 morning Zhukov and Timoshenko, still insists that Hitler, most likely, knows nothing about the start of the military operation. “We need to make contact with Berlin,” he says. Molotov summons Ambassador Schulenburg.

IN 04.15 the tragic defense of the Brest Fortress begins - one of the main outposts of the Western border of the USSR, a fortress where a year before a joint parade of the troops of the USSR and Germany took place in honor of the capture and partition of Poland. The troops occupying the fortress were completely unprepared for battle - among other things, in all the western border districts, at about 2 a.m., there was a break in communication, which was restored at about half past four in the morning. By the time the message about Directive No. 1, that is, about bringing the troops to combat readiness, reached the Brest Fortress, the German attack had already begun. At that moment, 8 rifle and 1 reconnaissance battalions, 3 artillery battalions and several other detachments were stationed in the fortress at that moment, about 11 thousand people in total, as well as 300 military families. And although according to all instructions, in the event of hostilities, the detachments were supposed to go beyond the territory of the Brest Fortress and lead fighting around Brest, they failed to break through the fortress. But they did not cede the fortress to the German troops either. The siege of the Brest Fortress continued until the end of July 1941. As a result, more than 6,000 soldiers and their families were taken prisoner, and the same number died.

At 3.40 in the morning, People's Commissar of Defense Tymoshenko orders Chief of the General Staff Zhukov to call Stalin at Bliznaya Dacha to inform him of the beginning of aggression from Germany. Zhukov hardly forced the officer on duty to wake Stalin up. He listened to Zhukov and ordered him to come to the Kremlin together with Timoshenko, having previously called Poskrebyshev to convene the Politburo. By this time, Riga, Vindava, Libau, Siauliai, Kaunas, Vilnius, Grodno, Lida, Volkovysk, Brest, Kobrin, Slonim, Baranovichi, Bobruisk, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sevastopol and many other cities, railway junctions, airfields, military -Naval bases of the USSR.

The commander of the Baltic district, General Kuznetsov, reported on the raid on Kaunas and other cities.

The chief of staff of the Kiev district, General Purkaev, reported on an air raid on the cities of Ukraine.

The chief of staff of the Western District, General Klimovskikh, reported on an enemy air raid on the cities of Belarus.

IN 03.15 The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Oktyabrsky, called Zhukov and said that German aircraft were bombing Sevastopol. Hanging up the phone, Oktyabrsky said that “in Moscow they don’t believe that Sevastopol is being bombed,” but gave the order to return artillery fire. The commander of the navy, Admiral Kuznetsov, after receiving Declaration No. 1, not only put the fleet on alert, but also ordered to engage in hostilities. Therefore, the fleet suffered on June 22 less than all other branches of the armed forces. Reports begin to arrive with a difference of two or three minutes. All of them are about the bombing of cities, including Minsk and Kyiv.

The first volleys of German artillery are heard. The next 45 minutes, the invasion goes along the entire border. The most powerful artillery shelling, the bombing of cities, then the border crossing by ground forces began. Bridges over almost everything, large and small, the rivers on the border are captured. Border outposts were destroyed, some of them even before the start of the operation by special sabotage groups.

German Ambassador to the USSR Schulenburg receives a secret telegram from German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop with a detailed explanation of what he should say when reporting the outbreak of war to the Soviet government. The telegram begins with the words: “I ask you to immediately inform Mr. Molotov that you have an urgent message for him and that you would therefore like to visit him immediately. Then please make the following statement to Mr. Molotov. The telegram accuses the Comintern of subversive activities, the Soviet government of supporting the Comintern, speaks of the Bolshevization of Europe, the conclusion of a Soviet-Yugoslav treaty of friendship and cooperation, and the accumulation of troops on the border with Germany.

Georgy Zhukov, Chief of the General Staff, reports to Stalin on Liskov's report. Stalin calls him and People's Commissar of Defense Semyon Timoshenko to the Kremlin. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov joins them. Stalin refuses to believe in the report and claims that the defector did not appear by chance. But Zhukov and Timoshenko insist. They have in their hands a prepared directive on bringing the troops to combat readiness. Stalin says: “Too early. Don't give in to provocations." At the same time, on June 16, there was a report from Berlin: “All German military measures to prepare an armed uprising against the USSR are completely completed and a strike can be expected at any time.” Stalin asked for confirmation, but the war started earlier. By one in the morning, Zhukov and Timoshenko managed to convince Stalin to issue Directive No. 1. It contained an order to put the troops on alert, but at the same time not to succumb to provocations and "do not carry out any other events without special orders." It was this directive that eventually became the main order for the first half of the day on June 22. As a result, many parts of the Soviet army did not resist the Wehrmacht until the moment of a direct attack on them. Stalin approves, and Timoshenko signs the declaration. Stalin leaves for a nearby dacha in Kuntsevo.

Passenger train "Berlin-Moscow" passes through the border near Brest. Trains with food and industrial goods are moving in the opposite direction - providing supplies, according to agreements between countries. At the same time, Soviet border guards detained soldiers who were supposed to capture the bridges: across the Narew River, railway on the Bialystok-Chizhov road and automobile on the Bialystok-Belsk highway.

Border guards detained a defector from the German side, a carpenter from Kolberg Alfred Liskov, who left the location of his unit and swam across the Bug. He reported that around 4 am the German army would go on the offensive. The interpreter was not immediately found, so his message was transferred to the main headquarters of Georgy Zhukov only around midnight. Alfred Liskov became the hero of the beginning of the war, they wrote about him in the newspapers, he became an active figure in the Comintern, then he was allegedly shot by the NKVD in 1942. He was the third defector that day to announce the start of a military operation.

The German Ambassador to the USSR, Count Schulenburg, was protested about the numerous violations of the state border of the USSR by German aircraft. The conversation between Molotov and Schulenburg is going on in a strange way. Molotov asks questions about planes crossing the border, Schulenburg in response says that Soviet planes also find themselves on foreign territory regularly. Molotov asks several questions about the complications of Soviet-German relations. Schulenburg says that he is completely unaware, since nothing is reported to him from Berlin. Finally, to the question about the recalled employees of the German embassy (by June 21, part of the embassy workers returned to Germany), Schulenburg answers that these are all insignificant figures who are not part of the main diplomatic corps.

According to a number of sources, it was at this time that Adolf Hitler signed an order for the immediate activation of the Barbarossa plan, according to which the USSR should be occupied within the next 2-3 months. By this time, 190 German divisions were drawn to the border. At the same time, the USSR formally has an advantage: although there are 170 divisions on the border, there are three times as many tanks and one and a half as many aircraft. All the invasion armies of the Wehrmacht, which by that time had been pulled to the border of the USSR, received an order to start the operation as early as 13.00 Berlin time.

From that moment, German troops begin to move to their original positions along the border. On the night of June 22, they should launch an offensive in three general directions: North (Leningrad), Center (Moscow) and South (Kiev). A lightning-fast defeat of the main forces of the Red Army was planned west of the Dnieper and Zapadnaya Dvina rivers, in the future it was planned to capture Moscow, Leningrad and Donbass, followed by access to the Arkhangelsk-Volga-Astrakhan line. The German generals under the leadership of Paulus had been developing Operation Barbarossa since July 21, 1940. The operation plan was fully prepared and approved by the directive of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht No. 21 of December 18, 1940.