Military operations on the territory of the region

Military operations on the territory of the region.

The Orеl region became a place of fierce fighting – the front line passed through the territory of the region for twenty-two months. Back in the autumn of 1941, in fierce battles in the area of Orel and Mtsensk, the Tank Guard was born - this was how the heroism and exploits of tankmen from Colonel Katukov's brigade were marked. They blocked the path of Guderian's tank armada, which sought to break through to Moscow itself. Soviet soldiers courageously fought for every frontier, at the cost of their lives they slowed down the enemy's offensive.

Already in December 1941 and January 1942, our troops launched a counteroffensive near Moscow, and then at Yelets (that time part of the Orel region). 

16 districts of the region were liberated. Fierce fighting took place in Livensky, Dolzhansky, Novosilsky, Verkhovsky, Novoderevenkovsky and a number of other districts. They were especially heavy on the territory of the Bolkhovsky district. Here the Krivtsov Memorial recalls the tragic pages of military history: more than twenty thousand Soviet soldiers were buried in this place alone.