WWII history

Sevastopol’s Soviet Defenders Helped Save Stalingrad

The 1942 sacrifice in Crimea is underappreciated

Seventy-five years ago this month, the German army began its final assault on Sevastopol, the port city on the Crimean peninsula which the Third Reich had besieged from fall 1941. While overshadowed—at least in the West—by larger and more significant battles on the Eastern Front, the Soviet defense of the city played a crucial role in the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany and retains an important place in Russian memory.

Sevastopol’s strategic location, and that airplanes based there were within striking distance of Romania’s oil refineries, made its capture a priority for the German high command following the blitzkrieg invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The Germans were at first unable to capture the city, and instead settled into a lengthy siege ending in a massive assault in June 1942.

The Soviets’ heroic but ultimately failed defense of Sevastopol further served as a rallying cry for an army which needed it after the Second Battle of Kharkov, which took place in May 1942. Poor planning and execution led that Soviet offensive to misjudge the German army’s disposition, as Gen. Semyon Timoshenko, Stalin and others expected it to be preparing for another drive on Moscow.